The Wizard's Trap
by alyssialui
Summary: After a successful raid, Draco and his squad head to a strip club to destress. What happens when Draco discovers the star of the performance is the brightest witch of his age. AU Post-Hogwarts. Dramoine.
1. DragonScotch and Flashing Lights

_A/N: In this world, purebloods reign supreme while mudbloods are hunted down. Draco is a part of the organization who seek them out. When he finds Hermione, it might make him question himself and his choices._

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

* * *

"But Malfoy, the way you cornered that mudblood! She didn't even see it coming! Almost feel bad for her husband though. He had to watch it all. He should know better than to associate with them though. Off to Azkaban with the lot of them."

Lawrence Summers laughed drunkenly into Draco's face as they sat around the bar at the Wizard's Trap. Located down Knockturn Alley, this was a popular place for seedy wizards to have their fun and eye some pretty girls before going home to their boring wives. Draco and his 4-man squad, comprising of Summers, Matthew Piers and Colin Montague, had come here tonight after another raid on a muggle home outside of London.

Draco worked for the Raiders, whose job it was to remove or imprison mudbloods. They had intel on a half-blood who had married a muggleborn. Under the new regime, this was not allowed. Voldemort had been defeated but that did not mean all the prejudices were suddenly pushed aside. Mudbloods were still considered the scum of the earth, with half-bloods only gaining a little recognition. Sure there were factions who still tried to give the mudbloods rights, but they were few in number and their success was slow. Purebloods would always prevail. Always.

Draco was staring into his glass Summers recounted the mission again for the fourth time. He was there. He knew what happened. Sometimes, he didn't like his line of work. Mudbloods were scum but their screams as he tortured them invaded his dreams. His nightmares kept him up at night. Dark circles under his eyes. The others just saw his symptoms as commitment to the cause, him working all day to right the wrong of muggleborn witches and wizards who had the audacity to keep living. Knocking back the shot of DragonScotch (stronger than Firewhiskey), he tried to focus on what Summers was saying, but he was a real bore. While the others howled with laughter, Draco scanned the room.

The club was dimly lit giving it a purple tinge but bright lights flashed against the walls of all colours. Sensual music oozed seemingly out of thin air as scantily-clad girls gyrated on poles and the laps of the clients they served. They were all very attractive and Draco started to feel a bit hungry as the alcohol settled in his stomach.

Summers clapped him on the back bringing his face back into view. "Malfoy, enjoy these nights of freedom. Soon you'll have give them and tend to the household". Piers and Montague laughed at Draco's expense. Draco had been engaged for a month now to Astoria Greengrass, sister of Daphne Greengrass from his year at Hogwarts. She was beautiful, with tan skin and long blond hair, and of a noble pureblood family. It was how it was to be - purebloods marrying purebloods. Draco was about to say his come-back to Summers when a loud voice rose above the noise:

"Gentlemen, it's time for the main event. Please welcome the Temptresses!"

Draco and his pals moved closer to the main stage as all the lights turned off and a spot light was trained to the curtain behind. Then the music began to pulse, lights changing in time with the beat as 5 girls came out from the behind the curtain. They wore g-string panties with skimpy tops barely covering their nipples each in different colours: electric blue, hot pink, bright orange, neon green and golden yellow. Their skin was smooth and tanned while their hair matched their outfits. They moved as one with the music, grinding on each other and bending down close the men trying to reach out to them. Draco was fully entranced by them, pulled in by the lights, the music and the smell of lavender and vanilla that spilled out in clouds from behind the stage. Every now and then, one of the girls would jump off the stage into someone's lap giving what looked like the greatest lap dance of their life. The guy would then put a galleon or two into a pouch each of the girls wore hanging off their hip.

Eventually, the first song died out and the girls lined themselves up once more in front of the curtain. The disembodied voice came again. "I hope you guys liked the preview." The guys hollered out, Draco and his squad joining the crowd. "Give it up for Siren, Pixie, Phoenix, Medusa aaaaaaaaannnnnnnd Sphinx!" As each name was called, a spotlight shone on the corresponding girl who did a sexy dance, and illiciting more shouts from the crowd.

The lights dimmed again and the voice continued, "But now let me introduce our angel, Mystique"

More smoke came out to fill the room with a new smell of jasmine. The new girl rose out of the floor of the stage wearing a white g-string bikini and wings of long slender white feathers. Her body curved nicely around her bust and hips and her skin was the colour of sand, which glittered slightly from the small amount of light at the edges of the stage. She was average height but made taller by the white spike heels she wore. Her hair seemed transparent, reaching down to rest at the top of her breasts. Draco took it all in, staring at her like a tall drink of water on a hot day.

Then the music started again and the girl started to move. The colours flashed and her hair mimicked the colours. A pole came out of the ground connecting it to the ceiling and the girl pulled herself up by her hands and spun around on the pole. Doing splits mid-air and against the pole, she arched her back slowly and stared out at the crowd upside down. The crowd got louder and she pushed of the pole and did another split in the shape of a capital T. She wrapped her legs around the pole and reached out over the crowd to lightly grab at the extended hands.

Draco could not tear his eyes away from the girl. Even when Siren came down in front of him and was in Summers' lap to his left. The rest of the squad cheered on Summers while leering lustfully at the girl hoping to get their turn after. But Draco was only focused on Mystique.

As the music reached its climax, Mystique went all the way to the top of the pole and turned upside down, wrapping her legs securely around it. Then the music stopped and she slid down the pole to the floor. Draco jumped out of his seat hoping she didn't hit the ground. But right when she would, she stopped falling and the music sounded once more before fading away.

After the pole dance, she switched off with Pixie and started to walk to the edge of stage and right towards Draco. He had to grab her attention. As she came close, other guys around him tried to take her as well, but she was his. He pushed them back, holding his hand the furthest. She saw him and came right in front him.

"Hi.." Draco gasped out. She was beautiful. Light brown eyes rimmed with long white lashes, high cheek bones and tight pink lips covered in white gloss. Her hair still changed in time with the music and the lights on the walls, casting her face in different shades of colour.

"Hey", she purred. "I'm the angel who's come to make your dreams come true.."

Draco could hardly speak as she seemed to float off the stage and stand right in front of him. He could feel his body stiffened as she stood over him, her back to his face. She smelled strongly of jasmine and her skin seemed to glitter even more. He was in a different world where only the two of them existed. Mystique moved in mesmerizing circles, the feathers lightly dusting him. Sometimes she would make contact, other times hovering an inch above him teasingly. His private dancer. She was doing things to him, wonderful things, and he liked it.

She turned around and stared him straight in the face, their eyes meeting. They were only an inch apart and held each others gaze. Her eyes were perfect. Warm, inviting and slightly familiar. His mind was slightly muddled by the DragonScotch and he could only really focus on his body's reaction to hers.

However, she continued to hold his gaze, then after taking a good long look at him, her eyes suddenly widened with realization and she whispered, "Malfoy?"


	2. Mirrors and Alleys

_A/N: Thanks for the views and reviews. Keep them coming. Love your feedback. Enjoy the show._

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

* * *

His angel floated off his lap and away from him. He reached out to grab her but only caught one of her long feathers. He stood out of his chair to follow after her but not before Summers pushed the orange-clad girl into his lap. Her breast jiggled in his face temptingly. Slipping a couple galleons into the pouch on her hip, Summers leaned into his ear. "Lighten up, Malfoy. Why not have another lap dance?" _**Why the hell not?**_

Days passed and Draco didn't think about his white angel again. He couldn't believe how she had sucked him like that. Then she left so unexpectedly. That night, he had returned home to his fiance that night with a slight headache. She was not too pleased to find him reeking of alcohol and covered in glitter. As took off his clothes to take a shower, he noticed a long white feather tucked into his pocket. It was slighty crumpled and damp, probably from split liquor. Thinking nothing of it, he tossed it in the bin, washed up and lay next to Astoria to sleep.

* * *

Mystique ran backstage as quickly as she could. **_Oh no no no no no no no!_**. Sneaking back into the dressing room, she looked at herself in the mirror. "Mystique..." she whispered into the empty room. She was still Mystique: white lashes, white bikini, clear hair. There's no way he would've recognized her. He reeked of DragonScotch and his eyes were slightly glazed over. But she definitely recognized him. Although he had aged a bit since she last saw him, guessing from the short layer of stubble, there was no doubt who it could be with that unnaturally-coloured blonde hair.

The door suddenly flew open and a short man stormed into the room. The dim light in room bounced off his shiny dome that he shamefully tried to cover with the hair he had left. His face turned increasingly red as he rushed over to her and grabbed her by her hair. "What do you think you're doing in here girl?".

Mystique yelped as he tugged harder. "You're the star. You're supposed to be out there, not in here idling with your reflection."

He pulled her by her hair and rammed her face into the mirror with great force. Mystique squeaked out in pain. Ignoring her cry, he tugged downwards, causing her to fall to the floor. She could feel her cheek swelling as she tried to shield herself from him.

He spat in her face, "Why did I add you the team? Mudblood scum at my feet, not even good enough to lick my boots. Get back out there and we will definitely talk later". He left her on the floor.

Tears started to pour from her eyes. She knew what that meant. Pulling herself off the floor, Mystique took one last look in the mirror. Her cheek had indeed swollen. She tried to conceal the pink colour with a quick glamour charm. Blinking away the pain, she went back out there. She had a show to do.

* * *

"I'm going to be in so much trouble. Late again."

The girl rushed through the streets of the alley, muttering to herself. This was the third time this week she had been late in getting to work. As if she wasn't already on thin ice before that. After that show, she had her talk with her manager. One degrading night later, she had woken up and washed herself repeatedly. The showers never made her feel clean but she at least looked presentable to the outside world. That wasn't the first time he did something like this to the girls, nor the first time he did it to her. She sighed outwardly, trying not to be seen and clutched her bag to herself.

Then she walked into what felt like a solid wall. Then it pushed back and she was sprawled onto the ground. **_Well I guess it wasn't a wall_**.

She looked up, ready to mumble an apology, but then choked on her words. **_Not again!_** He seemed a bit shocked and kind of distracted. She sprang up from the floor with her bag and ducked under him and away. He shouted something at her but she just kept running. **_Why now?_**

* * *

It was after lunch and Draco was famished. He was so stressed with work, mounds of papers piling on his desk, that he had worked through lunch while the others went out. Finally taking a break, he walked out of the tall dark building and to the Apparition point and disappeared. One quick fit through what felt like a straw, Draco was in Diagon Alley.

The alley was not very busy at this time of day as everyone else had come here at the appropriate time for lunch. Concentrating on getting to his favourite restaurant, he walked briskly down the road with his head held high. Someone collided into him and without thinking, Draco shoved back causing the person to fall. It was a small girl with uncontrollable brown hair with a small brown bag held across her body. He sneered down at her, ready to insult her for being so blind when she looked up into his face. Their eyes locked. Warm, inviting and familiar brown eyes. She hastily picked herself off the ground, grabbed her bag and scurried past him.

He shouted after her, "Cut some of that hair of yours and maybe it wouldn't block your eyes." Turning around, his mind was back on his stomach and he continued on his way.

Meal in hand, he sat at an unoccupied table by the window of the restaurant looking out at the alley. From his posiiton, he could see the spot where the girl had walked into him. **_Clutz..._**, he thought with a roll of his eyes. Her eyes. They came back to him. Where had he seen them before?

The answer tumbled slowly over his lips, "Mystique..."


	3. Discoveries and Tears

_A/N: This is chapter 3. I'm trying to work out the plot I was this story to go on, but I think this is a good place to leave it for now while I flesh it out without going too deep. As always, view, review and enjoy._

_Disclaimer: I own nothing but many many cats. Does anyone want one?_

* * *

Draco quickly finished his food and headed out the alley. Taking a quick right, he strode down Knockturn Alley with purpose before ending up in front of the Wizard's Trap. He pushed open the door and stepped inside. In the day, the large room was much brighter. The chairs were turned upside down on the tables while charmed brooms, mops and dusters rid the place of dust, glitter and spilled liquids. He looked around for anyone in the room but the place was empty. Then he spied a small door to the left of the stage and headed towards.

Opening the door he came upon a long hallway which held many doors. He walked past the numbered doors, sparing a glance into them before continuing on then he stopped. In one of the rooms, the door was slightly ajar and he spied the girl he had just bumped into. She was facing the mirror with her back to the door sorting though some things but he recognized the unruly hair.

He stormed into the room, causing the girl to jump in fright and subconsciously put her hands around her head.

"You.. girl!" he barked at her. "Who are you?"

She turned around to face him. She wasn't what he expected. There was the unruly hair, but now he saw her pale skin and the freckles that spread across her face. She wasn't very tall, her feet could barely touch the ground in the chair she sat in. Her mouth was drawn into a tight line and she seemed to be holding her breath. Why?

He repeated, "Who are you?"

* * *

After bumping into Malfoy, the girl hurriedly ran down Knockturn Alley towards her building. She slipped in through the back and rushed straight into her dressing room. _**I hope Mr. James didn't see me rushing in here**. _

She threw her bag down on the purple couch next to the door then sat in front of the mirror. She started sorting through the various makeup prducts and accessories on top of the desk and in the drawers, wondering what she would be using tonight.

The door swung into the room wildly, hitting the nearby wall with a bang. _Aaah! Mr. James! _Reflexively, she placed her hands on her head, hoping he wouldn't grab her hair again.

"You.. girl! Who are you?"

She slowly turned around in the seat, a bit confused now. That wasn't Mr. James' voice.

_**It's him!** _She shrank in her seat and bit her lip nervously. What would he do now? But then he repeated, "Who are you?"

He still didn't know who she was.

* * *

While she continued to remain silent, Draco started to look around the room. A lone dying light shone from a orb floating in the corner of the room. There were no windows in any of the rooms off the hallway so the room was kind of dim. The large mirror behind the girl was streaky and cracked at bit around the edges. The counter top was fill with beauty products. He looked over to the purple couch to his right and saw the girl's bag but also some large, white feathers.

Thinking back to the feather he threw away in his bathroom rubbish bin, he looked back at the girl. The gears started clicking into place.

"Those are the wings I saw the last time I came here, you're in this room,... you're Mystique?"

The girl made a small squeak and then looked down. He moved close to her and place his hand on her chin, lifting her head. **_Those eyes. Definitely hers. But not her body._**

"You don't look like her though." He studied her features closely, trying to understand the disparity.

The girl finally found her voice, "Mystique is just a character, one of many. It changes every once in a while." She turned her face away from him and spun back around to face the mirror. "You're not supposed to be in here," she huffed angrily.

Draco half-heard what she was saying now. He was still looking at her strangely. She didn't look like anyone else he knew, they didn't match the features he was seeing. However, there was a slight buzz in ear, his mind trying to tell him there was more to this mystery than that. It was wild thought, flitting in around in his brain but hard to grab onto. **_What else was it?_**

"... if Mr. James comes in here, he'll be so angry. You need to get out of here."

She suddenly got up from the chair and walked around him to the door ready to drag him out. Her unruly hair bounced past him. This also seemed familiar, fluffy brown hair in clouds puffing briskly along. A faint memory of days long gone.

"Granger?" he spoke the questioning thought aloud. Even he was unsure of himself. But then she stopped in her tracks before reaching the door. Ding! ding!

* * *

I froze up. He finally remembered. I knew this day would come. Somebody had to notice. I was seen enough in the paper and posters while running around with Harry and Ron. Someone smart could have probably put the pieces together. But now the person who noticed was Malfoy. I quickly shut the door in front of me and put my back to it.

"Granger, this is what you do with yourself nowadays?"

I hid my face in my hands. "Yes," I answered, never liking to admit it to myself.

"Well if that isn't a twist. The brightest witch of our age reduced to gyrating on men's laps for money," he mocked. I had sunk so low.

"This is all I could do!" I screamed. I slid down to the floor. I had been broken. The old Hermione wouldn't have let this happen to her, but there was no room for her in this new world.

Hermoine had nowhere to go. If anyone saw her, she'd be arrested immediately under the new laws. She was so scared. She lost contact with everyone, fearing any correspondence would give away her location. One night, she had ducked into Knockturn Alley quickly to avoid being seen by a pureblood couple, she could tell by how they were dressed, when a man suddenly came up behind her. He had clasped a hand over her mouth, effectively muffling her scream.

His wand poked into her back as the man leaned into her ear, "I know who you are, the filthy Mudblood scum that was always with Potter. But where's your hero now?" He pulled her close to him and pushed her down the alley with his hand still over her mouth. "Now I could have you carted away but I have another idea, a more profitable idea. You see, I own a business of a certain... intrigue and I'm in need of staff. You're not too bad to look at. What's say you come work for me and in return, you stay out of Azkaban".

She had no choice.

* * *

Draco walked close to her, unsure what to do in these kinds of situations. **_I was never really good with crying girls._**

She spoke up again, "It was this or get carted away, all because of my blood. I didn't ask for this."

Then Draco remembered. It hadn't dawned on him until she said it herself. **_She's a mudblood. _**His expression grew very dark. He was a professional, excellent in his line of work and a master at keeping his face blank. He spoke, "Granger, I hate to do this but I'm gonna have to take you away now."

She stopped crying instantly, "What?"

"I work for the Raiders. I'm just doing my job."

Hermoine blinked slowly. Then she grabbed out at Malfoy's legs. "Please please please please. Don't do this. I've been hiding all this time. Spare me!" She pleaded with him, her tears dripping onto the floor. She didn't want to be captured. She'd do anything, even if it meant grovelling at Malfoy's feet.

He was about to bring out the restraints he always had on him but then he started thinking about what they would do to her. He had known Granger throughout his time at Hogwarts. She was strong, a fighter, something he wouldn't admit verbally that he had admired about her, but she was not strong enough for would happen after he handed her over. Echoes of her screams in his house those years ago rang through his head now. She had already suffered once. Since it was her, they probably wouldn't be merciful. Could he put her through hell with a clean conscience?

Sighing he said, "Get up Granger! Begging is beneath even someone like you." He kicked her off his pants legs and smoothed out his robes. She recoiled but did not get up. She waited for him to say something more, anything more.

He covered his eyes as he said in her general direction, "This is not a life anyone should have. I can't leave you here or take you away and still feel okay with myself." He uncovered his eyes and looked down at her form on the floor. "You look so pitiful and broken. It would be like abandoning a puppy." **_They extinguished her fire. This is not the same Granger. _**

When she hadn't moved, he started to get impatient. "Get up, I said." She had stopped crying and quickly stood up from the ground hugging herself. Opening the door, he told her over his shoulder, "Grab your things and let's get out of here." Then he walked out.


	4. Frizzy Hair and Missing Girls

_A/N: Here's chapter 4, as Draco tells Hermione to follow him. Still thinking about how I want the story to go. Haven't written the next chapter but hopefully it'll be done by the weekend. Look out for it. View, Review and Enjoy_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

* * *

Hermione and Draco walked back onto the bright cobblestone road of Diagon Alley. It was noticeably more crowded now, making it easy for the pair to move around without being too conspicuous. Hermione clutched her bag close to her again and stared at Malfoy's back as he parted the crowd in front of them.

**_He could have arrested me right then and there but he didn't. I can't believe this is happening. But what is happening?_ **

The inquisitive nature of old Hermione had not died but it had been locked away and replaced by something more paranoid. Currently the two were fighting for precedence in her mind. Malfoy hadn't said much after he told her to follow him. He walked out into the hallway but then glared back at her when remained frozen in the dressing room. He all but dragged her out, giving her little time to get anything more than her messenger bag. They left through the back door as quickly as possible.

"...I'll have to call into the office to let them know I'm not coming back in today." He wasn't speaking to her and seemed to be purposely ignoring her for the moment, but every now and then he would spare a glance to make sure she was still behind him.

**_Why was I still here? I could run back to the Wizard's Trap and go back to normal, my normal. Just pretend that I didn't see him. But that was the thing, I did see him and he saw me and now he knew who I was. What if he still gave me away?_** Lost in her thoughts, she just followed him obediently.

"... did you stay hidden for so long?" Malfoy's voice broke through her thoughts again.

"What?" she rasped out. Talking hurt her throat after as she had been crying a few minutes before.

He was looking at her now and repeated, "How did you stay hidden for so long? Like you said, someone should have recognized you."

Clearing her throat, Hermione replied, "I don't really look like this. I use glamour and beauty charms to alter my appearance."

"And you couldn't have done something about your hair," he laughed derisively while pointing at it.

She grabbed at a few strands insecurely, "My hair defies all laws, magical and muggle. Any charm or product I use wears off after about an hour." Then she glared at him, "And I happen to like my hair. One of the last things that's me."

He looked down at the ground and then kept walking. Hermione had to run to keep up this time.

When they had walked to the end of the road, he finally turned back to her and said, "This is the spot. Hold on to me." Before she could ask what he meant, they blinked out of the alley.

* * *

"...glamour and beauty charms to alter my appearance," Granger said.

Draco studied her again a bit more critically. He couldn't really tell if there were any charms in effect but I guess that was the point. Her nose looked kind of puggy but cute because it match her round cheeks, but her lips were still pulled tight. She hadn't stopped biting them since they had left the strip club and they looked cracked and slightly red. **_They'll start bleeding if she doesn't stop._** Her skin was still pale, the freckles were there and a mole on her neck he saw when her hair would let him. **_Now that hair was Granger's hair! _**

"And you couldn't do something about your hair?" Draco laughed.

She grabbed some her hair and said, "My hair defies all laws, magical and muggle. Any charm or product I use wears off after about an hour. And I happen to like my hair. One of the last things that's me." She was looking angrily at me and I couldn't hold her gaze. **_Her fire is coming back slowly, but for all the wrong reasons. _**

I turned away and kept walking down the road. Upon reaching the Apparation point, Draco told her to hold his hand and away they went.

* * *

After finally feeling like her lungs could expand, Hermione gulped in some air and opened her eyes. She was in a small living room that was bare but still spoke of its worth. A fireplace made of black marble stood to her right, facing the window covered by grey curtains. A green high-backed chair and a matching couch sat in front of it. Malfoy led her through the door on their left leading to the bedroom. It was a modest double bed with a grey down comforter. Until she saw it, Hermione didn't know just how tired I was. **_This day has taken a toll on me and it's not even dark yet._**

"This is where you will stay until I figure out what to do from here," Malfoy said as Hermione walked up to the bed. "The bathroom is through that door over there. You have this place to yourself. I usually use this flat to entertain guests. Polly!"

With a loud crack, a small creature appeared between us and Hermione fell to the floor in shock. Malfoy looked down at her with unreadable eyes. He extended his arm to her and said to his house-elf, "Polly, can you please get Ms. Granger something to eat and some clothes to sleep in for tonight. She'll be staying over for awhile".

Polly bended low, her long, bulbous nose touching the floor, and then said, "Yes Mr. Malfoy". Then Polly disappeared again.

Hermione grabbed Malfoy's hand and he helped her up. "Polly will take care of you," he assured. "If you have any problems, tell her and she'll find me." Without another word, Malfoy walked out of the bedroom and a faint click was heard as another door was opened and closed.

Hermione spun in the room. **_What would happen now?_**

* * *

Draco walked out of the guest house and towards the Manor. Slipping through the side door, he walked through the drawing room and into the living room where he saw Astoria sitting there, sipping tea and reading the latest _Witch Weekly_. Upon hearing his footsteps, she looked from the article about the steps to getting the perfect white teeth and saw her fiance enter the room.

"Draco darling, I didn't hear you come in. Shouldn't you still be at work?" **_Draco usually comes home after 7 if there aren't any missions to attend to._**

He looked a bit preoccupied but then he walked over to her. He took a place behind her chair and leant down to kiss her forehead. "I thought I come home early and surprise you, Toria. Haven't you miss me?"

She reached around the chair and grabbed his hand, giving it a tender kiss. "I always miss you, Draco. This is a sweet surprise."

Draco walked around the chair and took her by the hand, kneeling dramatically in front of her. "Now, the future Mrs. Malfoy, would you accompany to the dining room for our evening meal?" He ended it with a flourish of his other hand towards their destination.

Giggling, she stood up as he got off the ground, "Certainly, Mr. Malfoy."

* * *

"Where is that girl!?" Mr James screamed, pushing all the dressing room doors open.

Girls screamed out in a few, shielding their bodies but he didn't care. Nothing anyone hadn't seen before. He was getting increasingly angry as he looked for her again and again. Looking into her dressing room again, he saw the white wings thrown over the chair in the corner. _**But that girl isn't here!** _

She was late again. She knew what would happen if she was late again. He grinned a little in perverse delight. But his show was going to suffer without her. If she wasn't there, the gentlemen would leave early and that would reduce profits. It was too late to change the line up and use another girl.

"Mr James, we can't find her either." The other girls had run up to him. _**Had no one seen her?** _

He growled a little then said, "Go on out there then. We will go without her. I'll talk to her tomorrow." The girls looked down and rushed off to get ready. No one wanted that talk, and they didn't want to be around if he decided to practice the talk on her first.

Mr James looked to the ceiling, _**I will find you girl, if you know what's good for you**._


	5. Organisations and Separations

_A/N: A bit of a backstory chapter explaining what happened five years ago - how the Wizarding World turned upside down and Hermione got separated from Harry, Ron and Ginny._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

* * *

After the Battle of Hogwarts, most wizards and witches across Europe rejoiced. No longer would persons be terrorized or constantly living in fear. People could begin life anew. But there were wizards and witches who had fought on the side of the Dark Lord and were not ready to admit defeat. Though small in number, his remaining death eaters who had not been killed or captured by the ministry regrouped. They grew stronger as they converted more persons to their side. Under the guide of Yaxley, he took two subordinates, Avery and Nott Sr., they motivated any pureblood families or pureblood supporters who still detested the very existence of those of inferior blood type.

"No longer will be have to be contimated by such filth, that which is beneath even the soil we drag into the house. We must raise up arms!"

They fed the flames of their hatred and spurred them to action.

Seemingly overnight, the purebloods stepped in and took over the Ministry of Magic. With how fast it happened, it was obvious the plan had been in the works for some time. Yaxley and his followers had infiltrated the Ministry, unbeknownst to the Minister. His officers filled high ranking positions within the Ministry, allowing them access to the inner workings of the organization. They had all turned over a new grief and wanted to be re-integrated into society. They gained the Ministry's trust and no one suspected anything out of the ordinary. But Yaxley was planning.

When the fated day arrived, Yaxley stormed the Ministry, his inside men taking out the most important officials persons and most of the persons on the Wizengamot. His other followers caused mayhem and havoc. Spells were fired wildly, shattering windows and blowing out chunks of the walls. The fountain in the middle of the foyer of the Ministry reduced to rubble. Fires erupted as documents and files were destroyed. Lifeless bodies littered the floor, piling up on one another. It was one of the biggest attacks seen in a long time. The Minister was taken prisoner, giving Yaxley the honour of killing him himself. With the Minister dead, the rest was easy.

The World of Magic was under new management. Now Yaxley could impose his laws on all of Wizarding Europe. His first decree: No Mudbloods. All mudbloods would be eradicated. Any person married, worked with, associated or spoke to a mudblood or muggle was arrested and/or killed. He continued to enforced the lines drawn between blood status, rounding up all the muggleborns and "cleansing the earth of their dirt". Some said it was better you were killed instead of captured by one of his Raiders.

Bounties were put out on popularly known mudblood fugitives. Persons were paid for bringing in the filth like glass bottles on recycling day, the better the mudblood the more money paid out. Many mudbloods had been killed and the population was steadily decreasing. A perfect world would soon be achieved.

But after 5 years, they were still searching for their number one target, a certain Hermione Mudblood Granger, saviour of the Wizarding World.

* * *

After the Dark Lord had fallen, Draco hoped to begin a life of normalcy. Lucius had been arrested and thrown into Azkaban for his past crimes against the Wizarding community, so Draco had returned to live with his mother at Malfoy Manor. But plagued by the stares and whispers that followed the pair, Narcissa ran off to one the Malfoy's homes in France, leaving the large empty home to her son.

He laid low for awhile, trying not to draw too much attention to himself, and tried to surreptitiously rejoin society. He took a small job at Gringotts where he met Astoria, the younger daughter of the Greengrass family. At that time, nothing had come from their friendship, except some harmless flirting. But Draco had started to feel accepted and happier.

When Yaxley starting rounding up the Purebloods, he personally sought out the Malfoy family. Although they were seen as cowards, even among the Death Eaters ranks, Yaxley understood the need to have as many followers to enable his plans. When he suggested his plan, at first Draco was hesitant. He wanted to prove himself and regain some power behind the name Malfoy but the last time the world tended to the dark side, it never had favorable results. Yaxley did not take kindly to Draco's refusal. "I see you're still a coward, bringing disgrace to the Malfoy name."

Then the Ministry was taken over and Draco saw just how serious Yaxley was. Draco realized to survive in this new world, he had to conform and adapt. To do otherwise would have been considered siding with the Mudbloods and the blood traitors, and that was one thing Draco would not be. Remembering his pureblood teachings ingrained in him by his father, Draco brought back the hatred he felt about the 'scum' of the wizarding world. He approached Yaxley again and became a part of the new order. "You've finally come to your senses, boy." Yaxley released the first decree under the new leadership and Draco soon joined the ranks of the Raiders, the extended hand of the new Ministry in creating the new pureblood society.

He found Astoria again and decided to further their relationship. As a pureblood, she too believed in a purist society though did not want to take an active role. But she accepted Draco's decision and stayed with him. She became his light in the dark, when the screams began too loud. She picked up him at his worse and celebrated him at his best. He loved her. After dating for a few years, Draco proposed and their wedding was to take place in five months. He felt as if his life was finally coming together, hoping it wouldn't fall apart again.

* * *

Harry, Ron and Hermione were the celebrated Golden Trio. Harry had battled against the Dark Lord more times as anyone else and had finally succeeding in ending him once and for all. Everywhere the three went, persons wanted to congratulate them. They were forever indebted to these three young wizards.

Harry settled down with Ginny and soon got married after the battle but Ron and Hermione decided to stay friends. They found they didn't have much in common after trying to go on few dates but their friendship remained intact, to Hermione's , Ron and Hermione finally felt like they could relax now even if they had to put up with the occasional paparazzi moment. But they, like everyone else, were lulled into a false sense of security.

The Ministry of Magic was attacked by Death Eaters on October 7, 2000. Harry, Ron and Ginny had been at the Burrow that day helping Mrs. Weasley with the house when they heard the news on the radio. They couldn't stand by while persons were dying and much to the protest of Mrs. Weasley, they apparated and joined the fray. It was chaos and destruction everywhere. Harry Ron and Ginny managed to take down a few men but their numbers were insignificant to the size of Yaxley's army. When the situation seemed dark, the few remaining survivors quickly retreated to minimize losses. The Ministry had been overpowered.

Hermione had been with her parents that day, far away from the Ministry and hadn't heard the news. Upon receiving the distressing owl, she quickly apparated to the Burrow to hear the details of the battle. That day, the four them decided to take back the Ministry and they too would form their own army.

But a few days later, Pureblood Law Decree Number One was released: No Mudbloods. The four friends had been walking through Di'ern Alley, another popular Wizarding street, when three suited men appeared in the street. Everyone stepped out of their way, making a wide path for them to walk through. The Gryffindors knew who they were: Death Eaters.

They walked to the centre of the alley and commanded everyone's attention. Then the man in front cast a Sonorus charm on his throat and said, "By Pureblood Decree Number One: All muggleborn wizards and witches are hereby under arrest for possessing the muggle blood flowing through their veins."

As he finished his declaration, other Death Eaters appeared in the alley, snatching up persons and taking them in handcuffs. When some persons were more resistant, they were tortured into submission.

Everyone started screaming and running in panic. Hermione got separated from the others in the confusion. Using her quick wit, she cast a quick disillusionment charm on herself and ran into a side alley and hid, changing her hiding place whenever someone got too close.

The chaos had died down but now she did not have anyone else. Should she go looking for them? What if the Death Eaters were still out there waiting? Should she apparate back to the Burrow? No, she would never forgive herself if she put her second-family in danger. And she wouldn't put her family in danger again.

She decided to apparate to Diagon Alley. She could possibly get a bite to eat and calm her nerves before contacting her friends.

She appeared in the Leaky Cauldron but the place was destroyed. The barrels of ale where smashed open, still slightly dripping of the spilt drink. There were scorch marks on the floors. Tables and chairs were splintered and tossed about. Then she heard a shout, "The sensor just picked up a mudblood apparating into this building." _**Oh no, they're tracking apparation.**_

The two Death Eaters burst through the doors, their eyes narrowing in on her, the only occupant in the room. There were about to stun her but Hermione was quick. She quickly leviated two of the larger pieces of the cracked barrels and dropped them onto the men's heads, effectively knocking them out. Then she quickly apparated to somewhere she knew they wouldn't find her.

* * *

Hermione sat on a hill overlooking muggle London. So far, no Death Eaters had found her. But it was only a matter of time. Hermione knew. She was being hunted. Streams of tears fell down on her face. During the Battle, she had always had her friends. If she broke down, someone would help her put back the pieces. Now she was far away from her home and could even apparate anywhere close. She was now a fugitive on the run.

Hermione slowly made her way closer to her familiar haunts, travelling between wizard and muggle towns. The towns were mostly emptied, Hermione figured either by fear or a reduction in the muggle and muggleborn populations. She thought of sending owls, but again she wasn't sure how dangerous it would be. She had run into Death Eaters in two of the thirteen towns she passed through, only luck saved her those times.

The first was in a muggle town and just as the Death Eaters had spotted her, they were hit by a bus. That made the local paper the next day.

The second town was a wizarding town. Hermione had been running and just when she thought her luck ran out, she fell through a hole in road. She opened eyes and found herself in the sewer running underneath the road. She had landed painfully on her ankle but held her breath as her pursuers ran past her.

She would leave clues everywhere she went in the hope that Harry, Ron or Ginny would find her. But no one found her yet and she hadn't found them either.

She eventually made it to Diagon Alley but that same night was when Mr James found her. Mr James had threaten to expose her if she stepped out of line. She tried to resist and disobey but Mr James then shackled her inside the club. Every time she fought back, he did worse. She had even escaped her shackles one day, reaching the end of the alley but then Mr James knocked out again. She couldn't even relive what happened after that attempt. Soon her will had been broken and she had resigned to her faith. She hadn't tried contacting them since. She got to Knockturn Alley and that's where she stayed.

* * *

"So Harry, when's our next recon mission going to be?" Ron lay back in one of the hammocks strung up between two hooks on the grungy walls of the room he and Harry shared. They were currently in one of the Resistance's safe houses. Harry was frantically looking over some papers in the dying candle light.

Without looking up, Harry answered, "We just came back from the other mission two days ago, so we'll being going on the recon mission in Dumphrey in about a week."

Ron sat up and looked at his best friend. You could feel the exhaustion radiating off Harry's body, etched into the wrinkle of his brow. He would always get worked up before every recon mission. For these missions, they would secretly visit another town and find any muggleborns who were still in hiding. They would then make arrangements to get the refuges into the safe houses. Harry always hoped one of these towns was where Hermione was hiding.

After that day in Di'ern Alley, Harry Ron and Ginny had tried hopelessly to contact Hermione but they couldn't find her. All owls they sent would come back flustered with the letter still attached. They looked in the popular wizarding locations. When they never found her there, they searched different towns around London, wizard and muggle alike, but couldn't find her. At one location, they saw a brown feather stuck in a tree with her name scratch on it but unfortunately, it got caught in the wind and was lost.

While looking for her, they gathered their own troops and focused on saving the muggleborn wizards and witches. They could not let anymore persons die. But it was slow work and the Death Eaters outnumbered them, killing more than they could save.

Ron put his hand on Harry's back comfortingly, drawing Harry's attention away from his work. Harry looked into Ron's face and Ron saw the man breaking before his eyes. Harry was always so strong but tonight he really seemed at the end of his rope.

"Ron," he swallowed hard, "What if we really don't find her." He never had to say the name. Ron knew. Harry spoke up again, "What if they already got her? She could have already been tortured to death or locked away in Azkaban."

Ron had such thoughts as well but it would do no good to think of them. They had to keep strong, helping others while trying to help themselves. They made not have had any success in finding their best friend but they would not give up hope. They couldn't for her sake. She was their missing piece.

"Don't worry man. We'll find her."


	6. Cold Bruises and Warm Kisses

_A/N: After knowing about the circumstances leading up to the Wizard's Trap, I hope there's a better understanding of the story now._

_Thank you for reading up until this far. I wonder why no one wants to read my other fic. Maybe no one likes Ron :p._

_Continuing from chapter 4, we see that Draco is being the perfect 2-faced coin. Mr James is definitely mad about losing his main showgirl. And Hermione is not herself right now._

_View, Review, Enjoy._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

* * *

Draco woke up the next morning facing Astoria's bare back. Her smooth creamy skin called to him, asking for his touch and he quietly responded. Her body was cool against his lips. Last night after dinner, he led Astoria up their room eager to end the long day he had. Once in his room, he leant down to Astoria's face and gave her a light kiss. Staring up at him, she hooked her hands around his neck leaning back. His arms wrapped around her waist in response.

"So how was work today?" Astoria asked Draco.

He groaned and said, "Astoria can we not talk about this?"

He caught her mouth again but a bit hungrier. Astoria couldn't help but moan into his mouth, but then she pulled back.

"You seem very tense and we hardly spoke over dinner. Your mind seems distracted. Are you alright?" She asked him again looking into his eyes, trying to read his expression.

He moved his lips down to her neck and murmured against her skin, "Maybe I was just focused on wanting to get you upstairs as quickly as possible."

Astoria tried not to make a sound, she wasn't ready to give up just yet. _**Something just seems off.**_

Before she could open her mouth again, Draco picked her off the floor and moved her over to bed. He dropped her onto the soft grey comforter, falling on top of her gracefully before attacking her mouth again with fervor. Astoria loved Draco's lips and all questions left her mind as they got caught up in the moment.

* * *

Draco brought Astoria closer, burying his face into her neck, trying to block out his thoughts. He entertained light conversation with Astoria over dinner but it was mostly one-sided. She told him about a large man who came into Gringotts yesterday to withdraw some galleons. The man was about to hand her his key when it suddenly fell to the floor. He bent down to pick it up when there was a loud rip. The man split his robe from the neck to the floor. Embarrassed the man left the bank quickly without his galleons, almost forgetting his key on the floor. Astoria was giggling as she told the story but Draco offered a non-committal chuckle.

When he couldn't handle his thoughts anymore, he had taken Astoria upstairs for a distraction, but she kept asking questions. But eventually he wore her down, giving him the distraction he needed and they went to bed together exhausted.

Waking up now, he tried to hold onto a little peace before facing reality again. Kissing Astoria again on the shoulder, he tried to work out what he would do with Granger.

She couldn't stay in his guest house forever. Should he kick her out today? Maybe taking her in was a mistake. But then he thought back to how pathetic and small she looked, and he knew he couldn't just kick her out. _**As much as I hate to say it, I miss that stubborn fire she had.**_ Maybe he could just get her a better job, so she wouldn't have to go back to the Wizard's Trap. There were other possibilities but they could all backfire in his face if anyone found out what he had done. It was a crime to harbour a mudblood under the new regime, and as Draco was a Raider, his punishment would be worse than normal civilians. He would have to speak to her about it today.

Draco quickly grabbed his boxers, trying not wake Astoria and then quickly got showered and dressed.

* * *

Draco opened the front door to the guest house. "Granger?" he called out to the empty living room. He stood in the middle of the room and looked around. _**Nothing seems different.**_ He walked into the bedroom shouting out her name again. The bed was made and her bag was tucked neatly between the bed and the night table. _**Typical neat freak mudblood. **_He heard the sound of water coming from behind the bathroom door and figured she was showering.

Walking up to the night table, he noticed some things sprawled across its surface: some money, some gum and muggle flashlight and an ID card. Picking it up he saw Granger's face, or at least how he saw her yesterday. _**She said this is the just the glamour. **_Next to her face was a strange name, her address and her blood status. Everyone had to get a blood status license. Granger's said 'half-blood'. _**Fake ID. Interesting.**_

Draco didn't hear when the water turned off but he saw when the door opened and Granger came out with just a towel wrapped around her torso.

"Malfoy!" she screamed, putting her arms around her chest.

"Hello Granger," he said smirking.

Her face turned bright red, "You could have told me you were here!"

"I shouted out twice."

While she stood there flustered, he looked her over. Her hair was still brown but it lay flat on her head due to the weight of the water from her probably washing it. _**It's actually quite long.**_ The glamour wasn't there this morning so he was looking at the true Granger but as he looked at her he noticed other things. He could see the darkness under her eyes which contrasted with her pale skin giving her a sickly look. Her face was also much slimmer and her nose had become pointed, making her cheek bones more prominent, but what Draco really noticed was the fading bruise on her right cheek.

It was almost completely gone but it still left a pale blue ring around the edges of her face. "How'd you get this?" he said softly, lightly touching in case it was still sore.

Reflexively, she pulled back still holding the towel in place, "None of your damn business, Malfoy" She walked over to her bag to take out the clothes she had worn yesterday.

He grabbed her by her wrist causing her to stop suddenly. He looked at the arm he was holding and inspected it carefully, noticing there were other pale bruises there, some smaller than his pinky, some about the size of a galleon. Some looked old but others looked fairly recent. He looked back up into her face but she refused to look at him or her arm. Tugging on her arm, Hermione grabbed her the whole bag and stormed back into the bathroom, locking it behind her.

_**What happened to her during the last 5 years?**_ Draco didn't want to know how to rest of her body looked, if the bruises on her arm were any indication. And seeing the large one on her face. He empathized with her pain, knowing what it was like to be abused and tortured; waking up everyday to the marks and bringing back the haunting memories attached to them. He wanted to know how she had gotten hers.

* * *

Slamming the door behind me, Hermione looked back it almost as if she could still see Malfoy behind it. **_I didn't expect him to be here this early._**She lightly touched the place he had touched on her face. It didn't hurt anymore but he was so cautious that it would. She didn't want anyone to see her like this. She was supposed to be the strong Hermione, saviour of the Wizarding World. _**Except I haven't been that girl for 5 years.**_

She sank down to the ground, having another horrifying trip down memory lane. Getting separated from Harry and Ron when they first learnt about the new laws. Waiting for them to come back but it wasn't possible. Moving around was hard. Hiding in alleys and in the sewers. Feeling so alone. Getting stuck with Mr James. The abuse.

Hermione started rubbing her arms some time during her thoughts. She didn't even notice she had started crying. _**Damn you Malfoy for bringing up these thoughts.**_ She scrambled off of the floor and looked into the mirror. **_Hermione get yourself together. Be strong._** She dabbed her face, replaced the glamour charms and got dressed.

* * *

She came back into the room holding her bag. "Don't even ask, Malfoy," she said angrily, glaring up at him and standing 2 arm-lengths away. Draco was about to retort, nobody told him what he could and could not do, but he could see the sadness she hid behind the glare. His inspection had brought her memories to the surface. She didn't need anymore memories.

Instead he just said, "I saw your blood license on the night table." Hermione walked over to the table and picked it up. "Yes, I had to get one so I could move around in the open without getting arrested." Draco nodded in understanding. People were subjected to random checks of blood status whereupon they had to show the officer their ID. Hermione picked up the other things and stuffed them back into her bag. She sat on the edge of the bed and looked up at him expectantly.

Draco was unsure where to start and the air in the room felt solid. Hermione then broke the silence saying, "So what will happen now?"

Taking a breath, Draco said, "There are different things. One, you could go back to your life if you want to just get out of here. I won't follow you but you won't be my problem anymore; Two, you get a new job. I still leave you alone but as the generous person I am, I help you get a job somewhere better than that strip club; Three, still trying to think up that one."

Hermione was thinking. She hated her job, the lustful looks and the grabby clientelle and Mr James. She shuddered just thinking of that sick man. No she couldn't go back there. Should she get a new job? It would give her a fresh start.

Hesitantly, Hermione said, "Can we do option 2?" She expected him to laugh back into her face, just like old times, setting her up for a long fall. But he merely shrugged and said, "I'll see what I can do."

He moved towards the door, motioning to her to follow by the slight inclination of her head. She pulled her bag on her shoulder and followed him into the living room.

"Polly!" A loud crack was heard in the living room and Hermione jumped back again, still not used to the sound. "Polly, eggs please for Ms. Granger and myself." The house-elf disappeared with another crack and then two plates of eggs and bacon appeared on the table nearby.

Draco gestured for Hermione to sit in the seat opposite him. "You will have to stay here until I can sort out some things. I don't want anyone knowing about this yet." Hermione didn't say anything as she just stared down at her food, eating a few pieces. "Is there anything you need?" he said.

Hermione looked up, almost choking on her food. She cleared her throat before saying, "There's a few things that I'd like to get if I'll be staying here for awhile."

Draco made a small sound and said, "Ok we can get that out of the way first. I only have a short time right now."

Finishing up the small breakfast, Hermione grabbed Draco's hand and they side-apparated to her apartment.

* * *

"Where are we?" Draco asked to the darkness. He would still feel Hermione's hand in his own. Hermione muttered 'Lumos' and then he could make out his surroundings.

It was a small apartment, much smaller than the living room of his guest house. Hermione's bed, couch and kitchen were all in this studio apartment. She let go of him to start packing some clothes into a duffle bag she pulled from under her bed.

Draco looked around the room at the stripping brown walls noticing that the walls were quite bare. Her couch was quite ratty and obviously second-hand, and so was the carpet. This was not a home.

Hermione drew out a small box from under her bed and put it in the duffle bag as well, before running into the kitchen. Draco called out, "Where are we exactly?"

Hermione called out, "We're a few streets down from Knockturn Alley. I got this place because it was cheap and near to work."

Draco swore he just saw a rat run from under the chair and out through a hole at the base of what he assumed was Hermione's front door. "You'd be a fool if you paid anything for this dump."

Hermione ran back from the kitchen and told Draco she was ready to leave. Securing her duffle bag on her shoulder, Draco apparated them back to the guest house.

* * *

Astoria woke up with a small yawn and then flipped over to find Draco... not there. Frowning she threw on her nightgown and headed to the bathroom to get ready for the day.

She came down the stairs staring at the large grandfather clock that stood in the foyer. 10 o'clock. _**Where's Draco? It's his day off.**_

Astoria looked into the living room, dining room and kitchen but still couldn't find him. Then she heard the back door open and close. She saw Draco coming in, looking around furtively.

"Good morning darling?" she asked as she walked over to him. His eyes slightly widened before his expression softened.

"Good morning to you too," he replied sweetly. He took her into his arms and kissed her on the nose.

"Where were you this morning? I woke up to an empty bed."

Draco paused a bit then he kissed her lightly. "Don't worry about it love. Just went out for some morning air and I didn't want to wake you."

Astoria didn't believe him but she decided not to pursue it. She changed the topic and said, "You know, today is Saturday. I don't have work and I know you don't either. Wanna do something fun today?"

Draco grinned down at her, "Well what did you have in mind?"


	7. Written Plans and Secret Plans

_A/N: Thanks for the reviews. Draco tries to go back to normal but Hermione wants to take him out of his comfort zone a bit more. __Read and Review. Check out my other fics._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter_

* * *

Draco resumed his life as if he wasn't harbouring a Mudblood fugitive in his home. _**Better said than done.**_

He had spent the yesterday with Astoria and today he had gone back to work. His superior had not been happy that he had skipped out on work the day previous, as seen by the high stack of papers on his desk today.

Draco may have been a Raider and often out in the field, but his job also involved a lot of paperwork and research. This way, when they went on a Raid, everything was done properly and completely. Nothing was left unturned or open. So everything had to be planned and documented just right.

Draco was currently hunched over his desk now going over some papers about the Raid that would take place in a few days in a town called Dumphrey. Draco was pouring over maps and documents regarding the town's history and current state, quickly jotting down anything important when there was a knock on the door.

"Malfoy!" a voice called out. Without waiting for answer, Montague pushed through the door and stood inside the man's office, ignoring the two seats in front of the desk.

Draco looked up from the paper, "Montague, am I late for the ball already?" He asked sarcastically. "Whatever it is must be so important that you threaten to break down my door with your meaty gorilla hands for no reason."

Montague looked into Draco's eyes, ignoring his insults, "There's going to be a Raid in Dumphrey in about a week."

Draco waved the papers, "I know that. That's why I am trying to work out the plan."

Montague looked away a bit, "I hear talk that the Resistance is gonna make an appearance there that night."

Draco scoffed, "So? We've had our run-ins with them before. If we catch any of them there, then it'll be all the better."

Montague replied, "Piers is out for the week though. Won't be back til after. I'm having doubts that our squad can do the Raid alone if the Resistance will be there too."

Draco ran his hands through his shaggy blonde hair exasperatedly. "I'll ask Rowles if he and his squad would be able to come along with us that night."

Montague looked relieved, "Thanks Malfoy". And then Montague left the room, shutting the door behind him.

_**Bloody perfect! **_If he didn't have enough problems. Now his plan would have to be completely redone if it we're incorporate two squads. He got out from behind his desk and exited his office. _**I have to find Rowles.**_

* * *

Draco came home that night through the floo and appeared right in the living room of the guest house. Hermione had been sitting on the couch facing the fireplace with a book in her lap and a cup of her favourite tea in her hand. Upon seeing the wizard in front of her, Hermione jumped, almost spilling the tea down her front.

"Malfoy! You can't just come in here without warning."

Draco smirked, "Last I knew this was my house. I can do as I bloody please."

Hermione blushed and looked sheepishly at him. But then she found her voice again, although must quieter, "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Oh nothing," he replied airily, taking a seat the dining table while propping his legs up on the table. "What have you been up to?"

"Well, you put me under house arrest, so I've been reading. Have you found a job for me as yet? I'm dying to get out of here."

Draco didn't know why but her want to run from him irked him. _**Was she that ready to get away from him? The guy who saved her life? But aren't I the same one that wanted to get rid of her the same night?**_

He replied, "No not yet. I'm not sure what job I could get you that's not too high profile."

She looked downcast and then spoke up again, "I've been thinking today. I want to find Harry and Ron."

Draco sighed, he wondered if she'd ask about them. "I don't know if I can help you in that aspect."

She looked towards him with wide eyes, "Has something happened to them? They must still be very popular so you must know something about them."

Draco replied, "I'm not sure where they are. No one has seen them in a long time. You should know they've been out of the spotlight for a long time."

She bit her lip unsure of what to say, if she should even say anything. Draco continued, "If they're still around, then they'd probably be a part of the Resistance."

"The what?"

Draco looked up at her with an eyebrow raised, "What rock have you been living under, Granger? Not everyone was happy with this great new world. They're a group of people trying to make the world a better place." He said the last part mockingly.

Granger looked at him with hope, and then her gaze became steely and resolved, "Malfoy, I need you to get me to the Resistance. Sounds exactly like something Harry and Ron would be doing."

Malfoy sighed, he didn't want to get this involved. He put his head in his hands. "Granger, it's not as easy as it sounds. The Resistance has no real location, they move around a lot. They have safe houses but they're often empty by the time the Raiders find them."

Granger then insisted, "But I'm sure you must have some leads on the people working against you. Keep your friends and your enemies closer."

Draco chuckled, "That's a very Slytherin thought, Granger. But even with the leads, still no certainty of finding them. I'm not even privy to all the information about them. Doing something like this may get me arrested. I can't afford that right now."

Granger looked down again but Draco could still see the glistening trail on her cheeks. _**Not this again.**_ He walked over to her and held her cheek. She looked up at him, trying to will her tears back into her eyes.

Soothingly he said, "I'll see what I find out." He swiped the tear stains from her cheek. He felt this increasing need to take care of her, to stop the tears and every future tear. _**She needs someone right now.**_

She gave him a watery smile, which was infectious as he felt the corners of his lips turn up as well.

* * *

"...But even with the leads, still no certainty of finding them."

Hermione's eyes started to sting. While reading today, she had finally been able to think about them. There was no more Mr James and Malfoy had freed her. He was her saviour in a way. She entertained the thought of finding them. She missed them dearly. But now Malfoy was crushing her dream. She had always assumed there would be someone come back to if she could find them. But five years was a long time.

The tears fell, she could feel them collecting under her chin and dropping onto her old grey sweatshirt. She may have been too late already.

But then Malfoy came and knelt in front of her in the couch, and held her cheek. She looked into his face, _**I must look like a bloody mess. I hate the new weepy Hermione.**_ He rubbed his thumb on her cheek and said, "I'll see what I find out."

She felt hopeful. Someone would be doing something. And Malfoy was helping her, helping her again actually. She smiled at him and was surprised when he returned it, even so slightly.

"Thank you Malfoy," she sniffled, throwing her arms around him in happiness. He stiffened under her touch then patted her back awkwardly. Before she could think about what she was doing, she turned her head and gave him a light kiss on his cheek in gratitude. But then she remembered about Astoria. Hermione blushed moving out of his embrace. His eyes widened and he all but sprinted out of the house afterwards.

* * *

Draco walked away from the guest house, leaving Granger back to her thoughts. Why did she make him feel so guilty and sappy? He wasn't usually like this. **_Only around Toria._**

He touched his cheek softly, the ghost of her lips faint but still warm. He shook his head. **_ I can't let her get to me. I'll just send her off on her way, remove myself from her completely._** But her eyes were in his mind. Those which were once warm and inviting, were now sad and vulnerable. It bothered him. _**This is going to bite me in the arse.**_

With her eyes plaguing his mind, he went into the house and asked this question, "Toria, are there any openings at Gringotts?" _**I must have a death-wish.**_


	8. New Beginnings and Garden Strolls

_A/N: Here's the next chapter. Thanks for all the reviews, favourites and follows so far._

___Dsiclaimer: Me no own Harry Potter_

* * *

"I don't know about this Malfoy." Granger said nervously, fidgeting with the sleeve of her dress.

"Stop whining Granger, and stop squirming around, you're crushing up the new clothes I got you," Draco said trying to steady her.

"I didn't ask you to get me these clothes, Malfoy!" Granger spat indignantly, folding her arms across her chest.

"Well you weren't going to wear your stripper clothes were you?" his voice raised, gesturing to her body.

Granger looked down at her feet. Draco sighed, "That came out a bit harsh. But I know you needed some good clothes. Gringotts is a very professional place and you want to make a good first impression on your first day."

* * *

Draco had talked to Astoria the night before about the possibility of a job at Gringotts for a 'friend'. Astoria didn't like the way Draco said friend but she still wanted to help out her fiance. She had floo-called her supervisor that morning and he mentioned a need for another teller to keep up with the influx of bankers.

Astoria had showed up to work that morning dressed smartly in a fitting periwinkle skirt suit. She greeted her fellow tellers and walked into her supervisor's office.

"Good Morning Mr Robbins. Thanks again for your help this morning."

Mr Robbins looked up Astoria warmly, "Well I trust your judgement. You've been a great teller for years now. Anyone you suggest should do fine here."

Astoria kept her face cool but inside she wasn't so sure. She hadn't even met the girl she recommended to Mr Robbins, just going off Draco's request.

"She'll be a good worker Mr Robbins."

Mr Robbins, "I trust you'll show her around and get her settled then?"

Astoria grinned, "Of course Mr Robbins."

Astoria walked out to the front desks just in time to see Draco walk in with a short, brown haired witch. The witch's hair flew wildly around her head and her eyes darted back and forth nervously. She was playing with the sleeve of her dressed as she came over. She didn't like how close the she and Draco were walking but she didn't want to voice it now in public.

Draco came straight up to her and planted a firm kiss on her lips. Astoria giggled, "Didn't you just see me this morning?"

"It's been so long I don't even remember." Draco stepped back and gestured to the small girl. "Toria, this is..."

"Lucy Caroll," the girl stepped in, extending her hand to Astoria shakingly. Astoria shook her hand hesitantly, examining the girl's appearance as she did. She had wearing a navy blue dress with a round neck and full-length sleeves. The dress fell down pass her knees. Her face was weating very light make up, pale pink lipstick and pale blush on her round cheeks. _**Conservative girl.**_

"Hello, Ms Caroll. My name is Astoria. I assume Draco has already mentioned I'm his **fiance**?" She felt the need to stress that word for some reason.

The girl's eyes widened when she said that but her face soon went back to how it was. "No he didn't mention it."

Draco decided to change the subject, "Well Lucy is here now and ready to work. But I'll leave you ladies to your thing." Draco all but ran away from the awkward conversation that may have followed.

Astoria turned back to Lucy and put on her best smile, "Ms Caroll, if you'll follow me."

* * *

Draco came home late that night in a foul mood. Planning for the Raid had taken a downturn when he found out that Rowles' team had another assignment for the week and was solely focused on their own problems. Draco spent all morning trying to find any other squad that could come on his assignment. In the end, he got Donahue's squad, known to be the hardest and stupidest squad to get along with. This also meant that Draco had to draft his plans over again.

He had apparated a little ways from the Manor, hoping the walk to his front door would clear his head. But while trying not to think about work, he found himself thinking about Granger. He wondered how her first day went and how she interacted with Astoria. He hadn't mentioned his fiance to her at all. Which he found strange since Astoria was on his mind whenever he wasn't busy. But Granger had seemed to push her out when she came into his life. And he didn't want anyone to find out about Granger, not even Astoria. Why did he think putting them in the same place would be a good thing?

He found himself at the door of the guest house and stepped inside without knocking. "Granger!" he called out before seeing her in the kitchen. Granger looked at him and she was actually smiling. He smiled back before catching himself. _**She's too contagious for her own good.**_

He walked into the kitchen and leaned onto one of the counters. She turned to him still smiling, "I felt like making some chicken noodle soup today."

He smirked at her, "You know I have house-elves for that, right?"

She frowned, "I don't like using elves to do things I'm perfectly capable of doing."

He laughed and pushed off from the counter. "How was your day Granger?"

"It was a good first day. Astoria was really helpful today and I caught on quickly. She said by the end of the week, she won't have to shadow me anymore."

Draco moved over to the table, watching Granger's back. She spoke again with a different tone in her voice, "You could have told me you had a fiance, Malfoy."

"My personal life really is of no concern to you Granger," Draco said dismissively, wanting to nip this conversation in the bud.

Granger shrunk a little, but then spoke up again, "You still could have told me. It was very awkward after you left. And she kept watching me, analysing me."

She was ladling the soup into two bowls and placed them on the dining table, one in front of Draco and one at the other end. He looked down at the soup curiously.

"I didn't poison it if that's what you're thinking," she said returning from the kitchen with two spoons.

He took a small sip and found out it was actually pretty good. _**I should get her to cook more often.**_

They lapsed into a comfortable silence just drinking their soup before Draco spoke up, "I'm sorry I never told you about Astoria but it just never came up."

Granger shook her head and said, "It's alright."

Then she reached across the table and startled Draco by grabbing his hand. Her hand felt so warm but he could feel small sections where the skin wasn't as smooth as other parts. "I really appreciated what you've been doing for me. I can't thank you enough for taking me away from that place. Even giving me a chance to start over." She squeezed his hand. "Thank you so much."

Draco was unsure of what to say, his eyes shifting from their hands to her glowing face. No one really thanked him for anything. He slowly said, "You're welcome, Granger?"

Granger smiled and then gathered the bowls and dumped them in the kitchen sink.

She was so homey, Draco noticed. She moved around the kitchen like it was all natural although she was in a new environment. She washed the dishes while she sang to herself. It relaxed him to watch her relaxed.

Draco called out, "So what are you going to with yourself tonight?"

She turned to him and had a confused look on her face, "Well I hadn't really thought about it. I'm stuck inside so I guess I'll just do some reading or something."

Draco got up and took her hand. He wanted to see her relax again. "Why don't we go for a walk and get some fresh air?"

Granger was so surprised that she let him lead outside without complaint. They walked around the Manor grounds. He took her down by the duck pond but all the ducks had gone. Hermione frowned a little but Draco just pulled over to the gardens instead. The flowers had closed up for the night but the air was still fragrant. Draco could hear her breathe in deeply as they walked under the sparkling night sky. She looked like she hadn't smelt the flowers in the long time. She looked so free.

Eventually they made it back to the guest house. Draco opened the door for her and she stepped inside. He grabbed her hand and she turned to look at him, surprised at the initiated contact.

He bent down in a gracious bow while taking her hand. Putting a kiss on her knuckles, he whispered on them, "Goodnight Lady Granger." And left the guest house, not noticing the faint blush on her cheeks.

* * *

Draco walked into the house to find Astoria at the dinner table. When he entered, she looked at him strangely while taking a long sip from her glass of wine. With her lips stained red, she coolly said, "You're late."

He came up to her and kissed her cheek. "I'm sorry dear. Tied up at work." She didn't react and instead said, "If you say so."

He took the seat next to hers and Polly ran out and placed a plate in front of him. The meal was delicious as usual but didn't have the homey feeling like Granger's soup.

He glanced up at Astoria and asked, "How was..." Draco drew out his sentence, unsure how to continue.

"Lucy?" Astoria said with a raised eyebrow.

Draco recovered, "Lucy's first day?"

Astoria looked back at her food, "She was fine. She's very smart, very quick but she doesn't talk much. Very shy. Kept to herself mostly after I helped her get started."

Draco nodded and then Astoria asked, "How do you know her?"

Draco swallowed, "Friend of a friend"

Astoria blinked, "I see."

They ate in silence after that before Draco excused himself to take a shower, leaving Astoria at the table, unaware of her apprehension regarding the brown haired witch.

* * *

_A/N: Hermione meets Astoria and starts working. Fun stuff. And we see some Draco/Hermione time in the gardens. Onto the next chap soon. Thanks for reading. All r__eviews welcome._


	9. Discreet Drinks and Close Calls

_A/N: Thank you guys for reading and reviewing. Please check out my other stories and song-fics._

_The more I write the longer this story seems to get. I keep adding things in between. But the next chapter will definitely have more action (hopefully)._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter_

* * *

It was the end of Hermione's third day at Gringotts. She was just packing up her things and heading to the Floo, with a nice hot bath and cup of tea on her mind. A voice called out behind her, "Lucy!"

Hermione turned around slowly, having gotten used to her new name over the last three years, but still surprised to see the owner of the voice strutting up to her. Astoria's hips swished as her black heels clacked on the marble floors of the atrium of the bank.

"Lucy, you were just leaving?"

Astoria came up right next to Hermione, giving her a wide toothy smile. Hermione looked into Astoria's face, unsure how to interact with Draco's fiance. She always gave her the strangest looks and made Hermione feel small.

"Yes, Ms. Greengrass."

"Soon-to-be Mrs. Malfoy," _**She loves to stress that.**_ "but please, call me Astoria. I ask because I was wondering if you wanted to sit and have a drink with me before heading home."

Hermione waved her hand, feeling very uncomfortable under the woman's gaze, "I'm sorry, I don't drink."

"Nonsense," Astoria giggled while ensnaring Hermione under her arm. "I know this nice place we can go to. My treat."

* * *

Hermione looked around at the place Astoria had taken her. It wasn't like any place she'd been to before. They were currently sitting at the bar of a high-class restaurant. There were huge chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, bathing the room in a warm yellow light. Dining couples and parties lively chattered mixed in with the enchanted violins and grand piano playing in the corner of the large dining area. Long red curtains framed the many two-story windows around the room, looking out to a wonderful garden. The smell of vanilla wafted from the candles in the chandeliers, muddling Hermione's thoughts. Or maybe it was the fruity drink Astoria had pushed into her hand.

"... so I told Martha that she looked horrible in green robes. She far too wide for that colour. Maybe a dark blue or black suit but definitely not green."

Hermione just nodded, not as fashion-minded as Astoria.

Astoria cleared her throat and then smiled at Hermione again, "So Lucy, I hope you have been enjoying your first few days at the bank. No troubles so far?"

"No, Ms. Green- I mean Astoria. Everything's been fine."

Astoria smiled again, if it was possible, even wider. Hermione was squirming in her seat, her feet barely grazing the floor from the high bar stool. "That's good. I hired you by Draco's recommendation so I have to make sure that you're doing fine."

Astoria took a long sip from her drink before focusing her eyes on Hermione, "How do you know Draco?"

Hermione froze, she had never discussed with Draco what their relationship was. She couldn't exactly tell Astoria that Draco was her bully and torturer for seven years. "Ummm... he was just an old friend from school willing to do a favour for a friend." Hermione took a long sip from her drink, avoiding the woman's smile. It was unnerving.

Astoria's gaze never wavered from Hermione's face, but then she blinked and said, "Oh that was very nice of him. That's my Draco."

Astoria finished her drink quickly after, leaving Hermione with her half-finished drink. "Well I must be running, Lucy. I will see you tomorrow at work?" She walked away without waiting for Hermione's answer, her long brown hair swishing behind her. _**Did I say something wrong?**_

* * *

Draco walked across the grounds to the guest house that night. He had thrown his briefcase into the high-backed chair in the living room, gave Toria a long kiss and then they enjoyed each other's company over dinner. He kissed her and told her he was going out for some air. She was too caught up in her magazine to hear him.

He knocked on the guest house door and stepped in. The living room was empty but a kettle was boiling in the kitchen. "Granger?" he called out.

"In the bedroom Malfoy!"

Draco walked in and saw Granger standing near the bathroom door, wringing her hair with a towel. Her hair instantly began frizzing as the water was wrung from it.

She grinned up at him from under her hair, "Hello Malfoy."

"Granger," he said, giving her a swift nod and then sitting on the edge of the bed.

Feeling like it was finally dry enough, Hermione put the towel back inside the bathroom and stood next to Draco by the bed. He was looking at her closely now. She never stood so close to him.

She looked like the Granger he remembered from school, without the charms and glamour but all grown up. She was losing the dark circles under her eyes and the large bruise on her face had disappeared now. She had a innocent, hopeful smile on her face as she stood near him. She was wearing a pair of old, long sweat pants and colourful socks that didn't match. She wore a shirt with thin straps which exposed more skin than Draco had seen before. As he suspected, the bruises and scars were spread across her arms, shoulders and chest. His eyes particularly focused on the scar she had gotten from his aunt in his very house.

Granger noticed his eyes moving across her body and her smile turned into a scowl. She used her hands to cover as much as possible, while stalking out of the room.

He followed her out of the room and found her setting up her tea on the kitchen counter.

"Granger, what happened to you?"

She bit her tongue. She didn't want to go into this again. "Nothing happened, Malfoy. That's all in the past."

"But those marks last forever," Draco ended, knowing how true that statement was.

Hermione whispered, "You can't focus on the past if you hope to go forward."

Draco reached out to grab her hand, holding it lightly in his. He was about to open his mouth when he heard, "DRACO! Darling! Are you out here?"

Draco's eyes widened, switching between Granger and the front door. He roughly grabbed Granger's hand, eliciting a small whimper from her. He dragged her towards the bedroom where she tugged back on his hand, trying to get out his grasp.

He spun to her face, fear and anger etched in each wrinkle. "Granger, stop being so stubborn!" She flinched and tried to move her hands to cover her head. Tears started to stream down her face, small sobs coming from her mouth.

Draco almost stopped, wanting to stop the tears, when he heard again, "Draco?"

He continued dragging the small girl into the bedroom, ignoring her crying and hoping she'd just shut up and be quiet. When he let her go, she moved into the corner and fell to the floor, still protectively guard her head, her sobs coming out louder. **_Could this get any worse? _**Draco just left her there, but not before casting a silencing charm on the room.

Draco hurriedly rushed out of the guest house to find Astoria just walking past it. She turned around when she heard the door open. "Draco, I was looking for you. What were you doing in there?" She tried looking over his shoulder into the room beyond before he quickly closed the door behind him.

"Checking out the place. I might invite some of the guys at work over for drinks and cards this week. I was thinking to have down here so they wouldn't disturb you up at the house, love."

He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before grabbing her around her waist, deftly leading her away from the guest house but not before Astoria saw the steaming kettle and abandoned teacup through the kitchen window.

* * *

_So Hermione and Astoria had a nice talk, more like an interview. Hermione's reflexes kick in when Draco starts to rough her up and scream. And Draco almost gets caught. And where is Mr. James and Harry and Ron?_


	10. Tandem Meetings and Chance Sightings

_A/N: Draco goes out on the mission. No Hermione or Astoria this time. Time for some action. _

_Thanks for all your reviews thus far, especially **HanableKing28 **for reviewing almost every chapter :D. I look forward to them._

_I hate that the line breaks sometimes are not visible. I'm gonna start using text as line breaks._

_As usual, __Read and Review, _I do not own Harry Potter, and on with the show.

* * *

Tonight was Raid on Dumphrey. Draco could be found in the armory of the headquarters, along with other squad leaders about to debark on their own assignments. Draco was looking down at his clipboard intently, checking off the necessary equipment for the Raid tonight: emergency brooms, backup wands, smoke bombs for quick escapes. There would be no room for error.

Draco was so caught up in making sure everything was perfect he didn't hear another set of footsteps add to the din of the large room, until their owner stood right beside him.

"Malfoy, how goes your inventory check?"

On the inside, Draco had nearly jumped out of his skin, but he was trained all his life to show no emotion. He looked over to the man, offered a small salute, and continued counting off the number of fire-resistant vests he would need. "Everything in check, Mr Avery."

All Raider squads reported directly to Avery or Nott. Draco started to feel a bit uncomfortable. Avery rarely visited Raiders outside of mission assignments.

Avery gave what Draco thought he meant as an affirmative grunt but it came out more like he was trying to throw up a brick. Then he continued in sharp tone, "The Resistance will be making an appearance tonight on your mission."

Draco looked back at his superior, "Yes Sir, and all precautions and preparations have been made. They will be taken care of."

Avery made the sound again, "Trust that they are, Mr Malfoy. You know what will happen if there are any problems."

Avery swiftly turned and left Draco alone, who let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He knew what would happen.

_...xxTWTxx..._

Draco, with the accompaniment of his and Donahue's squads, were being suited up with the gear Draco had secured. He turned to his 7-man team.

"Alright men, I'm in charge of this mission." He looked pointedly at Donahue, who just rolled his eyes.

"So what I say goes. You've already been debriefed of the attack plan and the layout of Dumphrey. Remember to check all the places that I had highlighted on your map thoroughly. That's where the targets are supposed to be. There is no excuse for carelessness."

Draco looked down at his watch. "It is now 2210. We meet up at Point A at 2300. And then Point B at 2330, before coming back here. Anyone who misses these checkpoints will be thought dead and left behind. Are we clear?"

The squad saluted at him, Draco saluted back. "Let's begin."

_...xxTWTxx..._

Harry stared down at the map in his hands, slightly illuminated by the small glow at the tip of his wand. He made a small marking above a box on the map which indicated where they were now.

"Ok Ron, we're on Carpenter Street. It's fifth house on the right. We're supposed to find two kids here."

Ron moved stealthily around Harry, casting detection spells in case any traps or danger were nearby. Harry's eyes skittered around the room they were currently in. There was not much light to go by, but Harry could still see the dilapidated state of the structure. The crumbling walls bended in on themselves under their own weight. The few pieces of furniture that were not smashed had a thick layer of dust covering them. The house looked like it hadn't been lived in for years. But even with this facade, Harry knew it was still being occupied. Sometimes the refugees would occupied already deteriorating houses or purposely destroy their own homes, to keep up this abandoned image.

With a swift nod, Ron pointed Harry over to a flight of stairs he saw that probably led to the basement of the house. They quietly stalked down the stairs, Harry in the lead and Ron backing up the rear. The room was scarily quiet. Harry shone his wand light out and saw two young boys cowering behind an armchair that was turned on its side, the stuffing falling out of the old cushion.

Harry reached out a kind hand to the closer boy, "Boys, you have to come with me. We're going to put you somewhere safe."

The boy behind him, the older of the two, chucked a vase at Harry and Ron, causing them to jump back. A loud crack was heard at the pieces flew out around Harry's feet. The light in the room shifted wildly around the room. The older boy shouted, "You're here to take us away!" The smaller boy started to cry.

Ron tried instead, "I know you're scared, but you have to believe us. We're going to take you somewhere safe. Somewhere away from the Raiders."

Harry and Ron stepped closer but the two boys darted from behind the chair and ran to the back of the basement.

Harry turned to Ron and gave a swift nod. Code 13. Harry put the room into darkness while Ron gave him the goggles that the Resistance had made for missions where light would give them away. Upon slipping them on, Harry and Ron could see the room as if it were day time. They saw the two boys hiding behind a large cabinet, visibly shaking. Ron then quickly aimed and cast two sleeping spells at them. Upon seeing the boys fall over, Harry and Ron ran up to their limp bodies and levitated them out of the basement.

_...xxTWTxx..._

Loud cracks rang out through the quiet town of Dumphrey. From Draco's research, this town had been abandoned around the time the Ministry was overthrown, but now muggleborn squatters had taken to hiding here, thinking it had been forgotten. Draco smirked. _**We forget nothing.**_

Every Raider memorized the maps, plans, checklists and orders before going on a mission. There was no time for physical maps or verbal instructions. They were sharp, quick and always prepared. Draco had Donahue's squad appear at one entrance to the town while his appeared at the other.

Draco and his squad started their mental checklist of houses. The first house came up empty, no sign of ever being inhabited. Draco scowled, one down. The next house had a half-blood man and his muggle wife. _**Not even a mudblood.**_ They apprehended the half-blood but Summers got a bit carried away and blasted the muggle's leg clean off. "Summers! That was not part of the plan." He forced Summers to stem the bleeding. Draco shook his head, now he would have to file an incident report. _**Great.**_ For every captive, they were secured with restraints which transported them directly to the Raider holding cells for further examination.

Then Draco saw wild lights dancing in the middle of the street as they exited the house. He saw a barrage of spells being thrown, some exploding light posts, others rebounding off windows, if not smashing them all together. He could make out Donahue's large frame fighting off a tall silhouette, forcing his opponent to hide behind a trashcan. _**The Resistance.**_

Draco looked a little beyond the foray to see a bright ring in the backyard of one of the homes. He saw people depositing floating logs inside the ring. **_That looks interesting. _**Signalling to his squad, he pointed to the ring.

Draco's squad moved with trained precision, matching each others fluid motions and anticipating each others steps, even without their missing squad member. They made Donahue's squad look like crap, but it wasn't like that was a hard task. They ran through Donahue's skrmish, quickly disarming the tall wizard that had somehow gotten the upper hand on Donahue, as well some other Resistance members who were running to the tall wizard's aid. Draco signed to Donahue to apprehend the subdued offenders before he continued towards the glowing ring.

They ran as fast as they could, ignoring or quickly disarming anyone who tried to deter them. The ring was top priority. The objective was to stop it, whatever it was. As his squad got closer, they could feel a strong gust of wind, almost knocking them off their feet. The glowing ring started to spin, kicking up dust in their faces. Draco signed to his squad and they quickly put on their protective glasses. Their movements were slowed as they resisted the wind, but they kept going. They had to get to it.

There was a high-pitched whistling noise. _**Something big is going to happen. **_All the logs were now inside the ring. Draco was now close enough to see that the logs were actually sleeping people. Those standing around the ring start to step inside as it seemed to spin even faster, rising off the ground.

Draco reached the edge of the ring, stealing glimpses of the persons inside staring at him in alarm, the ring almost forming an impenetrable wall. Spells were being fired out of the glowing circle in all directions. Draco dodged a rather nasty purple one, while trying to push his hand into the ring, but then he froze. Facing him were Potter and Weasel. They seemed surprised to see him there too. Before he could do anything else, the whistling reached its crescendo and with one stunning flash, Draco and his squad were thrown to the ground.

The circle and persons inside were nowhere to be found.

_...xxTWTxx..._

Draco stood up near to Donahue in the middle of Carpenter Street. They had gone back to the original plan as he and his squad had rounded up the rest of the Resistance members and any muggle or muggleborns that still remained in the town. Draco was making notes on his report as one by one, the captives were restrained and then delivered.

Draco looked up at his team. Everyone was accounted for, however Summers had gotten a nasty gash on his right leg and one of Donahue's men was sporting a nasty looking green rash that seemed to be spreading. Draco grimaced just looking at how it covered the man's face in sicken splotches.

Donahue rasped into his ear, "They're getting harder to control Malfoy."

Draco replied to the man without looking up from his clipboard, "They are pain in the arse. But any wild animal can be tamed, Donahue." He handed the report to Donahue for a signature. "Now let's get back to headquarters."

The squad popped out, leaving Dumphrey in dead silence once again.


	11. Muddled Thoughts and Promising Posters

Draco had been so preoccupied with preparations for the Raid, he hadn't gotten to do any research on the Resistance for Granger. And then as luck would have it, the very people she wants to see, people he haven't seen in all of my run-ins with the Resistance for five years, look him dead in the eye! Draco's head was hurting from thinking and overthinking.

He had gone back the headquarters where he and Donahue presented Avery with captives. After processing them, he submitted his report to Avery and quickly left the man's office before he could ask any more questions. Draco groaned. _**I need a drink.**_

He appeared in the middle of the guest house's living room with a crack. Hermione dropped the plate she had been holding, peering nervously around the kitchen cabinets.

"Malfoy, what are you doing? You made me drop a plate."

Draco just ignored her and slumped into the living room couch. He summoned a bottle of Firewhiskey and tumbler from the kitchen, the objects narrowly missing Granger.

She stomped up to him but her anger dissipated on seeing just how drawn he looked. She placed a hand on his shoulder and asked hesitantly, "Malfoy?"

He didn't move as the Firewhiskey poured itself into the tumbler and then floated onto the coffee table in front of him. Taking a long gulp, he looked at Granger. Her glamour was down but he couldn't focus on that right now. Instead, he just said, "I found them."

Granger looked at him in confusion, "Huh?"

Groaning, he pulled his hands over his face, "I found Potty and Weasel."

Granger jumped up clapping her hands, "Oh that's great Malfoy! So what now? When can I go and meet them?"

Malfoy looked away from her, annoyed to see her this happy and excited while he felt so miserable. "I don't know about that. I was just a glimpse and then they disappeared."

Granger looked back at him confused, "I don't get it."

This conversation was making his head hurt all over again. Taking another drink he said, "They disappeared before I could do anything to them, so I don't know where they are now. Nothing's changed."

Granger deflated, her shoulders slumping, "Oh. At least I know they're alive," she said with a small smile, trying to lift the mood, but the smile didn't reach her eyes.

She moved away from him going back towards kitchen. Draco jumped up and grabbed her wrist. She flinched, a pained expression on her face, and he remembered her episode yesterday. He had inadvertently caused her to freak out. There was a strange feeling bubbling in the vicinity of his stomach.

He quickly let go but found himself promising her again, "I'll look into any safehouses they may be using to keep the people they rescue."

Granger smiled again but the life in her was still gone. She looked tired and wary of him. She had gotten her hopes up and then shattered tonight. She was unwilling to believe him again, unwilling to believe that she would ever actually be reunited. "Thank you, Malfoy, for trying but maybe you've done enough." She gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek before turning away.

Draco didn't know what else to say. He felt helpless. He had nothing else he could say to make her feel better. He had extinguished her light.

She continued to the kitchen and bent down to pick up the pieces of ceramic. She quickly threw them away and glided into her room.

He stared at her closed bedroom door, then to the chunks she'd thrown away and almost shouted out loud. Now his emotions were getting involved, messing with his mind and couldn't think rationally. Where had all his stealthy Raider training gone now?

He sunk back into the chair, noticing his unfinished glass of Firewhiskey. Downing it, he thought, _**So what do I do now?**_

_xxTWTxx_

Hermione pulled her legs onto her bed as she searched through her bag. She pulled out two long pieces of wood. One was her real wand, she still remembered the warm feeling she got when it chose her. But she feared that she could be traced to it if she used it. She was lucky she had the second wand. She rolled it around in her hand, internally noting the difference between it and her own wand. She had stolen it off an unsuspecting wizard one crowded day on Diagon Alley. She wondered how he didn't notice it missing but she was just grateful she hadn't been caught yet.

Putting them back in the bag, she continued her search before finally pulling out the object of her desires. It was a slightly creased picture of her, Ron, Harry and Ginny having a snowball fight outside the Burrow. Ginny had ducked a snowball from Harry which ended up hitting Ron square in the face. Tears leaked from Hermione's eyes. _**At least they're alive.**_

She cried herself to sleep, with only her thoughts and the picture clutched in her hand.

_xxTWTxx_

"Blimey Harry, was that really Malfoy back there?" Ron slumped into the chair across from the couch in which his best friend sat. They were back at one of the safe houses, helping the refugees get situated.

They had ended up getting the information on Dumphrey much quicker than expected. Turned out that there were only five houses they'd have to search. So they turned the recon into a retrival mission. But it soon turned sour. They didn't know there would be Raiders. It was chaos and the mission had to be abandoned. They couldn't have disappeared fast enough. The results were dismal: they only brought back four people: the two boys Ron and Harry found, a small girl and a grouchy old woman. They had to leave the remaining refugees and some of their members at the mercy of the Raiders or risk everyone being captured.

Harry sighed, leaning back into the couch, staring up into the peeling ceiling. **_Figures that's what Malfoy did after the Ministry battle._** "Ron, we didn't get to search all the houses. What if she was there?"

Ron sighed, he didn't want to think that they'd actually left her behind. But he didn't know what he could say to his best friend when he wasn't even sure himself. He didn't want to face the possible truth. So he just rose from his chair, leaving Harry to his thoughts.

_xxTWTxx_

_**I told that girl not to cross me.**_ Mr James had just walked from the nearest information centre. There was a considerable amount offered to persons with any information of mudblood whereabouts. Mr James generously did everything he could to make sure that this mudblood menace was put in her place. He jingled the money in the pouch in his pocket. _**Now we'll see where she surfaces.**_

That night, printing presses were moving lightning fast, unable to produce the flyers at the speed the printer wanted. The head copier pulled one of the finished papers from the stack. He smiled. Perfect.

* * *

_A/N: Everyone's thoughts after the Raid and Retrieval mission. And Mr James has done something for his own selfish greed. Stay tuned._

_Also, I had made an update in chapter 7: Written Plans and Secret Plans. Reread it if you haven't. If you don't want to, then it's just a small edit, where Hermione gives Draco a quick kiss on the cheek._

_Read and Review please._


	12. Exposed and Headlining

_A/N: Hello everyone. Thanks for reading and reviewing. You guys are great. Keep them coming. Feedback and comments welcome (but no flames please)._

_This is a very long chap to keep you for awhile. It took longer than usual to write. I hope everything is as clear as possible and I haven't left anything important out. All of what's in this chapter needs to be said now, since it all happens within the course of one day._

_Rated M for language today and a sex scene._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, just this plot._

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Draco sat at his desk biting the end of his quill while he pondered over the list in front of him. He had gotten into the office pretty early today, in an effort to start the search he promised Granger without prying eyes. He had finally gotten a hold on the safehouses the Resistance were known to have used. He started making notes and checking maps, trying to determine which safehouse would be the most likely location when he heard a sharp knock on his office door. He looked up momentarily before going back to the list, "Enter".

Avery walked into the room with his head held high and made a small grunt. Draco looked up and immediately walked around the desk to stand in front of Avery, offering a salute.

Avery nodded before saying, "Draco, I see you're in early this morning. Admirable. I have something important to show you." Avery pulled out from behind his back. Recognition flashed through Draco's eyes as he saw the girl on the flyer, but he quickly hid it.

Avery spoke up, "It seems like someone wants this Mudblood found and they've supplied a lot of information relevant to her whereabouts. We have been searching for her for five years and now we know she's alive and within reach. Stop all current preparations, you have a new assignment. I am entrusting you and your squad to find and apprehend this Mudblood. Bring her straight to me. Do you understand?"

Draco gave his superior a solemn salute, "Yes Sir." Avery nodded again and left the room.

As soon as the door had closed, Draco's shoulders slumped and he leaned up against his desk, causing some of the papers to fall to the floor. He pulled a hand down his face. The room suddenly felt increasingly warm, small droplets falling down his forehead. What was he to do now?

He quickly grabbed up the list and the map and ran out of his office.

_...xxTWTxx..._

Hermione was dead to the world as she slept on her bed. She hadn't even bothered to pull back the sheets or change from the night before. She didn't even wake up when the blonde man had appeared in her room with a loud crack.

He shook her roughly, "Granger!"

She blearily opened her eyes but couldn't see much in the dark. Once her eyes had adjusted, she jumped slightly at the face of her intruder just inches away from her own but then allowed her head to fall back onto the bed. "Malfoy, what do you want? It's 5 in the morning. I have work in about 3 hours."

He roughly shook her again, "Get up Granger. This is important."

With a groan, she lifted herself off the bed and sat up, turning on the light in the room. Her eyes stung at its harshness, her hands flying up to shield them. Malfoy stood in front of her, she could feel him fidgeting. Malfoy never fidgeted.

She finally opened her eyes and said, "Ok, What is it?"

Without a word, he shoved the flyer Avery had handed him into her hands. Her eyes scanned the page, her face getting whiter with every word she read. It listed everything about her: age, place of birth, last seen, shoe size. Anything that could be used to find and identify her. She saw her own eyes staring back up at her from the two images. They were both unsmiling and shifting nervously. They had been her pictures for her IDs. Once she reached the bottom, she stared back him with soulless eyes. She swallowed, her lips feeling increasingly dry. Small gasping noises came from her throat as she tried to find the words.

The flyer fell from Hermione's hands as they trembled. They were looking for her now. After all that time hidden, they were now hunting her again. With these flyers and such a high bounty, anyone who found her would not hesitate to take her in.

Her eyes darted wildly around the room. Right now, this is all I know that is safe. Her eyes landed on the man before her. Malfoy's mouth was held in a thin line. He hadn't moved. He hasn't said a word. He has no words to offer her.

Her first few sobs escaped her unknowingly as her surroundings seemed to swim around her. The next were heart-wrenching. Five years of sadness poured from her eyes. Her life on the outside would soon be over, no matter how bad it had been, and just when it was turning for the better. She was unravelling, getting closer to madness. She felt trapped. She wanted to escape this life she had been forced to live. She wanted to go back to how things were before. She wanted to forget everything that had happened to her. Through the tears, she didn't even notice when Malfoy had drawn her into his arms as he sat on the bed beside her.

He cradled her head to his chest and held her close, helping to keep the broken pieces together. She was grateful to have someone on her side, someone who was protecting her. She wasn't alone. She knew he could have just easily thrown her out after he found her, even turned her in now and collect the reward for himself. But he didn't do that. He just held her.

She looked up into his eyes which revealed the conflict taking place in his mind. He was unsure like her. He didn't know what would happen now. But right now they were just living in this moment together, anchoring each other.

_...xxTWTxx..._

She was so small. If Draco wasn't there, he felt she would have literally be in pieces on the bedroom floor. He had instinctively took her into his arms, rocking slowly as her tears bathed the front of his robes.

She looked up at him, her eyes brimmed with unshed tears. His heart reached out to her. She hadn't done anything to deserve this. She would be persecuted for something that was never her choice to begin with.

He had shown her the flyer and she had made her own inferences before he could say anything, enough to send her into maddening sobs. How could he tell her that he would be the one to bring her in? Maybe that would work to his benefit. No one would be looking for her except him and his squad. And he wouldn't have to inform his squad of anything. She could remain hidden. She could remain his.

He almost jumped at the thought. When was she his? Why would he want her? Why was he jeopardizing his job and possible life for her? He could just put her away now and wipe his hands clean of this whole mess.

Her cries pushed through his muddled thoughts and he was stuck to her all over again. How could he think to throw her out? She needed him. After all he had promised, he couldn't let her down again.

He placed small kisses against her temple, trying to calm her down. She was getting hysterical now and they would soon have to take some action. He brought her to face him, moving his kisses to her forehead, whispering against her cold skin. She started to still, only a few small whimpers coming from her shaking form. He cupped her face and moved his thumbs to wipe away the trails of moisture on her cheeks.

Then he looked into those eyes that had drawn him to her when they first met. Cold, guarded, unfamiliar. She shut them tightly, causing the unshed tears to slip quietly down the curve of her face. He frowned. Her fire was truly gone now. He needed to see them that way again, to get some sense of normalcy back.

Suddenly his lips were on her mouth as his hands moved to tangle in her hair. She hiccuped slightly as the tears still ran from her eyes, but she hesitantly responded, her lips strikingly warm in contrast to the cold air which hung in the bedroom. He pulled her closer tasting the salty tears that had found their way to her mouth.

Her hands found their way to the nape his neck, her fingers moving through his hair. She pressed her body against his when his hands moved down to her waist to pull her close. They fell back onto the bed, his body hovering above hers.

Soon they both lost themselves into the kiss, the worries of the world melting away. She smelled like the vanilla scented shampoo he knew was in the bathroom. She traced small circles on the back of his neck as she played with his bottom lip, eliciting a small groan.

His mouth moved down from her lips to bury itself in the crook of her neck, attacking it with ferocity. She startled slightly under him and he pulled away unsure of how to proceed. But then, she pulled him back to her, her mouth finding his with purpose.

Maybe he had scared her with his forwardness, so he moved slower now although it pained him to. After that small taste, he wanted more and he couldn't get it fast enough. But she seemed to be warming up to him now. Her hands slowly travelled across his chest, leaving tingling trails in their wake. He shivered involuntarily and moved his own hands to the smooth curve of her waist.

Their clothes lay in a mangled heap on the floor and neither knew how they had gotten nude, their chests now skin to skin. He looked down at her skin, which was marred with long slashes and dark shades, but she still looked beautiful. He took her nipple into his mouth, flicking it with his tongue, finding pleasure in the loud moan that poured from her lips. His member throbbed at the sound and he smirked. She didn't know what that sound was doing to him.

He trailed kisses down from her nipple to her stomach, giving extra attention to each bruise and scar he found along the way. She sighed and even that Draco found was arousing.

He moved back up to her ear and whispered, "Granger, you're driving me crazy and you don't even know it." He was just about to ask her permission when she turned her head to start sucking deeply on his neck and the question vanished from his mind. **_I guess that's permission enough._**

He knelt between her legs and wrapped them around his waist. He captured her lips as he slowly slipped inside her. He moaned lowly into her mouth as her walls surrounded him. Once completely in, he waited to gauge her reaction. Then she rocked her hips up towards him and he grinned.

They moved as one, Draco pushing as deep and hard as he could. The sensations radiated from their union to the ends of their hair as they each got closer to their peaks. Draco's mouth switched from her sweet lips, to her tempting neck and her taut nipples, as he pumped in and out. All that could be heard was their short breaths, getting increasingly faster. Then Granger let out one shuddering moan as he rode her through her orgasm. Her walls tightening deliciously around him, allowing him his own release, filling her up inside.

When he felt he has spent his load, he captured her lips one last time before rolling off to lie beside her, holding her hand in his.

_...xxTWTxx..._

Harry and Ron sat in the small dining area of the Resistance safehouse. The previous night's exhaustion was catching up with them, as they both tried to stifle their yawns. Ron rubbed at his eyes, trying to rid himself of the sandman's dust when someone started shouting wildly.

"Harry! Ron! Look at this." Dean ran into the small dining area of the Resistance safehouse, wildly waving a sheet of paper. Harry and Ron looked up from their bowls of runny stew as Dean pressed the paper flat onto the table, drawing the attention of everyone in the room.

"Hermione..." Ron whispered. His throat suddenly felt very tight. Harry's eyes widened behind his cracked glasses. She looked older in this photo than when he had last seen her but there was no mistaking her face. He looked at the other image over the words 'Lucy Caroll' _**That must be how she was hiding. Clever girl.**_

He looked up with a wide grin on his face, his purpose renewed. She was wanted but she was alive. He picked up the flyer and held it up to Ron. "Ron, we just have to find her before anyone else does." **_Hermione, we're coming for you._**

_...xxTWTxx..._

Astoria got to work early that morning, before most of her coworkers. She had woken up alone and ate breakfast alone. Draco was nowhere to be found. _**Probably went to work early as well.**_

She had just sat down at her booth when Mr Robbins marched out of his office and stopped directly beside her. His gaze was piercing as his mouth opened and closed trying to find the right words to say. Astoria was confused and scared. Mr Robbins anger had never been directed to her before, but she maintained her composed and asked politely, "Anything I can do for you, Mr Robbins?"

He sputtered before shoving the pamphlet she hadn't noticed he had been clutching into her hands. Her eyes scanned the heading: "**Mudblood wanted. Bounty: 20,000 Galleons.**" She saw two images below, one of a mousy-looking girl with frizzy brown hair and the other girl with similar hair but looking just like Draco's friend, her new coworker.

Mr Robbins finally burst, "You let me hire a Mudblood? Do you know what that'll do to this bank if word get out that she was working here right under our noses?"

Astoria blanched, "I'm sorry Mr Robbins. I didn't know she was a mudblood."

Mr Robbins pointed a finger into Astoria's face. "I hired her under your recommendation. I trusted that you knew all about her. She was under your care!"

Mr Robbins pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath to calm himself down. No use getting worked up now. "Astoria, I think it's better you just leave. You may have just cost us a lot with this incident. Our reputation may be comprised, depending on who knows she was associated with us. Everyone has probably seen it now. Pack up your things and escort yourself out. I have to do some damage control."

Astoria's mouth hung open. She had this job for five years and she was an exemplary employee. She was even close to being promoted to a Junior Executive. All of that dashed because of a stupid Mudblood! Tears sprung into her eyes, whether from sadness or anger, but she would not spill them here. She was only lucky it was too early for anyone to have seen her departure. Now she had to find her darling Draco.

_...xxTWTxx..._

Hermione lay on her back as the light finally hit the trimming of the ceiling. Her hand still intertwined with Malfoy's but neither had let go since their romp.

She had been scared at first. The feeling of Mr James still lingered on her skin from their last.. engagement but Malfoy had replaced it with warmth and a lustful desire had bubbled within her. She needed to have him. She was able to let herself go and he had fully satisfied her. Her heart felt a small flutter. Another feeling was coming to the surface and she willed it to stop. This wasn't affection or love, it was just sex, and it would cause nothing but trouble to think otherwise.

However, laying here in the silence where they had finally come to rest had allowed the demons she was running from to catch up to her. Her throat still dry from her earlier crying session, she croaked out, "What will happen now?"

Malfoy sighed. He released her hand, a tiny part of her missing its warmth. He sat up with his legs on the ground and then reached to pull on his boxers before saying, "Well, someone tipped off the Ministry with some information about you, which caused them to reopen your bounty. My squad has been assigned to find you and bring you in."

Her eyes widened as she slowly slid away from him on the bed, drawing the sheets over her exposed skin. "After all you said you'd do for me, you're going to take me in?"

"I never said I-"

She jumped off the bed, still clutching the sheet in front her, the rest of it pooling around her feet. She pointed at him angrily, "I trusted you. You took me in just to lock me up, even though you said you wouldn't." She couldn't stop the tears from returning. She whispered, "I trusted you..."

"Granger!" he shouted, stretching across the bed to grab her wrist firmly. This time she wouldn't flinch. She was no longer afraid. She was angry. She was betrayed. She looked him coldly in the eye.

He continued, "Granger, I was assigned the task but that means I have all the control. No one else will look for you. This may be the safest place for right now."

She shook his hand off her wrist. "How will you able to keep me safe? What will your boss wonder when you don't report back to him? You've said it yourself. You wouldn't put your life on the line to save someone like me."

"I don't know exactly what to do then but I'll figure something out. I don't want to turn you in. I want to help you." He looked into her eyes pleadingly.

"I don't know what you can do now, Malfoy. I can't even go outside right now. This is just like before, but at least then I could walk on the surface world. Now I'm trapped underground."

"But you won't be captured or tortured or dead. You can hide out here and then we'll come with some plan," he tried to explain.

Hermione shook her head, "No, I'm done hiding Malfoy. I've hidden for five years. I need to do something." She picked up the sheet and ran around the room and began shoving her belongings into her bag. "I'll just change into a new glamour and get a new fake ID. If that's too much trouble for you and you don't want to be involved, then I'll get out of your hair as well. I'll find my own way to Harry and Ron."

He went over to her trying to grab her bag out of her hands but she stood firm. He spoke softly to her, "You could but I know you're not happy, Granger. If you did that again, you'd be in this situation again in a couple years and every time, slowly losing a little of yourself."

She laughed derisively, and with one last tug, finally got her bag back. "If you knew me Malfoy, then you'd know I've already lost myself. One more personality won't be much of a difference."

She saw that his patience was running thin when he finally said, "Ok. Go on then! Leave! I'm done with this. You should hope I don't find you again. You won't be so lucky then." He shoved past her, knocking into her shoulder. Her bag fell from her hands, the hastily shoved contents spilling across the floor. Draco left her there to pick up the items, slamming the door behind him.

_...xxTWTxx..._

_**I'm going to get to the bottom of this now.**_ Astoria stepped out of the fireplace, not even caring to dust off the soot from her expensive navy blue dress robes. She flung her work bag carelessly into a high-backed arm chair and ran up the stairs to her bedroom.

She forcefully pushed open the door and walked over to her vanity mirror. The bed had been immaculately made by the house-elves in her absence and she threw her dusty outer robe on top of it. She shivered a little from the chill in the room. It was still a bit early in the morning to be bare-sleeved.

She heard a loud slamming from outside. Moving the towards the window, she saw a familiar head of blonde hair standing outside the door of the guest house. He looked flustered and dishevelled, his locks sticking out at odd angles, before he disappeared with a pop.

She had to find him but first she was curious as to what he had been doing in that guest house.

_...xxTWTxx..._

Hermione had gathered all her things off the floor and finished packing her bag. She hadn't taken much out to begin with so it wasn't so hard. She had just been finishing up in the bathroom when she heard the door of the guest house open again.

"Malfoy, if you're hear to curse me out again don't even bother."

She walked out of the bathroom to find Astoria standing in the middle of the bedroom as regal as ever. She froze in her tracks. This was not good. Someone had found her, made worse by the fact that she now looked like Hermione Granger.

A smile was plastered on Astoria's pretty lips as a sprinkling laugh came out, "Now this is a rather amusing situation. I knew Draco had been spending all this time out here. I called myself a jealous fiance for thinking that there might be something going. Thought I was insecure for being so paranoid."

She came stepped closer to Hermione and Hermione took a step back.

Astoria continued, "Then, he introduces to me a Lucy Caroll, and the warning flags go up again, but I still think, dear Draco would never do that to me. He loves me too much. As the ever-loving fiance, I help out my darling."

She took another step and Hermione could feel the hard wood of the bathroom door against her back. She felt like a fly caught in a spider's web as the spider drew nearer and nearer.

"But then a flyer was put around, a bounty for a mudblood, the same mudblood that was hired under my recommendation, the same mudblood who cost me my job!" Astoria screamed.

She bent down and picked up a hastily discarded pair of socks and a man's cloak lying on the floor. She laughed again, "But this is the funny part, the plot-twist: Not only is my Draco harbouring this fugitive the whole time, he's been sleeping with her."

She finally strode right up to Hermione, grabbed her by the shoulders and then slapped her. Hermione whimpered, her cheek turning red instantly, a familiar sting radiating from the bruise that had just recently faded.

"Nothing is below you Mudbloods. You're all just slags and sluts." Astoria pushed Hermione down to the floor.

"Stealing pureblood husbands away from more deserving women. You. Make. Me. Sick."

She aimed a kick to Hermione's stomach with every word. Hermione groaned out in pain, holding her hands protectively to cushion the blows. Astoria noticed her resistance and then aimed a kick to her face. Hermione cried out, tears springing from the pain. "He was probably just using you for a quick one anyways."

Astoria walked away from the girl's prone form and spied the acursed flyer on the floor near the bed. She picked it up and then crouched down over Hermione, yanking her up by her hair. A gashed had opened up above her right eyebrow. "You really did have a pretty face though 'Lucy'. I think I might have messed it up awhile ago but you won't have much use for it now anyway." She slammed Hermione's face forcefully into the floor one last time and stood back up.

She walked over to the fireplace and made a floo-call. "Summers? I got an arrest for you."

_...xxTWTxx..._

Draco hadn't gone back to work after leaving Hermione. He couldn't concentrate. _**Could she really be so stupid as to just leave?**_ She really was safest there. He didn't even get show her his progress with the safehouses. If she knew, then she might have actually been able to make a better plan than to just run out blindly.

He appeared right in front of the guest house door and walked in. "Granger?"

The house was eerily quiet. All lights inside the house were off, the dying light outside casting evil shadows along the walls. He called out again, "Granger?"

He walked into the bedroom, his footsteps echoing off the hardwood floor, and saw a figure sitting on the bed in the darkness. The figure hadn't made a sound yet but she must have seen or heard him by now. There was no other sound in the house. He hoped she wasn't crying again. He walked over, reaching out to touch her shoulder, "Granger, I'm so sorry. I-"

"Sorry for what, Draco?"

Draco stopped, his arms still floating in the air. That was not Hermione's warm but timid voice. This voice was higher, confident and falsely curious. The figure rose from the bed and put the room into light. Before him stood Astoria, beautifully dressed in a long emerald green gown.

She noticed his eyes moving up and down her body and she giggled, "I put this on just for you Draco. Isn't it beautiful?"

Draco was unnerved now. It was obvious Astoria knew, that the secret had been uncovered but he never expected her to act so calmly.

"Astoria, what are you doing here?"

Astoria pouted, "I can't be here? I'm entitled to be in guest house. I mean it wasn't being used for guests."

She walked around him and then continued, "I came out here earlier looking for you actually. I had something important to ask you and had just missed you. You see, something happened at work today and Mr Robbins was not pleased." She paused a bit, studying his face, and then said simply, "Draco, who's Lucy?"

Draco's face was rigid but he would not play Astoria's game. "Toria, I know-"

Her features were suddenly distorted in anger, "Don't Toria me Malfoy. Who's Lucy?"

"Astoria," he stressed, "I know you know who Lucy is. I will not play these mind games with you."

She drew her hands to her chest. "Draco, how could you do this to me? to us? and with a stupid Mudblood."

"I didn't do anything to anyone."

"You fucked that Mudblood though!"

Anger flashed across Draco's face as he stepped up to Astoria, "What did you say?"

"My, my, defensive of the girl now aren't we." She put her hands on his chest and calmly stepped away from him. "I will excuse you for your tone with me and your momentary lack of judgement regarding the mudblood. Even the best leaders can be led astray."

She picked up a bundle he didn't notice lying on the bed and handed it to him. He recognized his socks from earlier that morning. "No one will know of your involvement in the matter. We will move past this Draco. And soon the mudblood will be gone for good and it can go back to just the two of us."

She stepped around him and moved towards the bedroom door.

Her words played over and over in his head before he turned to her retreating back and asked slowly, "Astoria, where's Granger?"

Astoria stopped in the doorway, her hand on the frame. She looked at him over her shoulder and laughed, "Oh Draco, you always did suck the fun out of everything, but that's still my game to play. I'll leave you to think out that one for yourself. But you better think fast Draco, the clock is ticking."

_...xxTWTxx..._

Ron and Harry sat in the dining area again, exhausted after a day of searching the previous day. All thoughts of other missions had been put on hold. The main focus was finding Hermione as soon as possible.

Harry shoved a spoonful of porridge in his mouth, "Well we can still check Scion and Marroth today, both are within a stone's throw from here and not many Raiders go by there." Ron nodded, greedily eating his own bowl.

Dean ran into the dining area again, with Ginny in tow. His expression was less hopeful than the one yesterday morning and tears were streaming down Ginny's face. Without a word, Dean tossed the Prophet onto the table in front of Harry and Ron.

Hermione was there again, the same girl shifting nervously in the pictures from yesterday but the headline read:

**Potter Mudblood finally found. Public execution tomorrow.**


	13. Prisoners and Alliances

_A/N: Thanks for all reviews and for those who have stuck around this far. Keep them coming. Check out my other stuff._

_Enjoy the show, review and I do not own Harry Potter :(_

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Her body shivered from the cold air creeping through the bars of her cell. There was no light or warmth here, there was no hope here. She shut her eyes tight, scared to open them, scared to find out where she was now. Her head was pounding and every muscle and nerve was sending painful signals to her brain. Her body was screaming at her to heal it, to make it better, but she couldn't do anything to help. She couldn't help herself.

Soft but sure footsteps were nearing her, echoing off the walls of the empty hallway that ran outside connecting all the cells on this floor. She had seen those on her way in while she was zoning in and out of consciousness, each one darker than the last. She was in the last cell, the one closest to the outer walls, the one furthest from the insulated centre of the building.

She shivered again, whether due to the temperature or the fear that was rippling up her spine, she was not sure, she did not really care. Who was coming now?

The footsteps stopped right outside the metal bars of her cell door. "Mudblood," a voice said calmly. There was a clang as metal hit metal and she fought the instinct to find out what it was. He might want to hurt her with whatever it was. She kept still, hoping he'd just leave her alone.

The voice said again but more forcefully, "Mudblood!"

She heard the sound of the lock opening and she started to shake. The footsteps came up and stood right in front of her. There was a swift kick to her stomach and she grunted. The pain travelled through her own body and her muscles screamed again.

She opened her eyes slowly and saw immaculately shined boots right in front of her face. The man knelt down and spoke close to her ear. "I know you're awake, Mudblood. Don't let me kick you again." He stood up and reared his foot back before she flailed her arms out to protect her face. He stopped and chuckled.

"So, the girl saviour of the world has finally showed her face after five years." She looked up into the man's face. It was hard to see from the little light that came from the dim hallway. She could barely make out his slicked back hair, but she could easily hear the smug quality of his voice. She could just imagine the smirk on his lips. He spoke again, "Where have you been hiding all this time? How were you able to stay hidden for so long?"

Hermione said nothing, narrowing her eyes up at the man. His voice seemed vaguely familiar but she couldn't remember it. He shifted slightly and more light fell on his face. She tried to contain the feeling of recognition that came over her. She had seen him before, all those years back at the Ministry when they had stolen the locket. He reared his foot back again and she held her hands up again to shield herself, screaming out, "I was on the run! Always moving!"

He replaced his foot on the floor before rubbing his smooth low-cut nails on the front of his robes. "How did you come to be found by Ms. Greengrass?"

Hermione swallowed before saying, "I was hiding on the grounds." She was too afraid to mention Malfoy's involvement, afraid for herself and afraid for him. He had always mentioned the disaster of people knowing their relation. It probably wouldn't go over well for her if they knew she wasn't alone.

He grunted, "How presumptuous of a mudblood to hide on the grounds of one of the most noble pureblood families."

He crouched down and started to brush her hair softly with the back of his hand. He whispered as if to a child, "Now that we have you, we will finally have your little friends as well. Apparently you were not in the same place as we had always hoped, but now they know where to find you. We will give them time to reveal themselves and we will be there when they do. The Resistance will finally be stomped and wiped out and no one will dare oppose us again. So thank you for your service."

She spat at his feet, smudging his polished shoes. A loud sound of flesh meeting flesh bounced off the walls. A gash opened on her face where the ring on his hand had drawn blood. He grabbed her hair roughly, using it to wipe the top of his shoe and his hand before flinging her back to the floor.

"I'm having second thoughts about keeping you alive until the next day. Whether they show or not, you are still going to be killed. Maybe I should just finish you now. Or maybe I should just remind you of your place. Crucio."

Her body writhed on the floor, rising off as her spine bent at an impossible angle. Her fingers bent into claws and her legs convulsed wildly. Her teeth bit deeply into her tongue and her lip, the blood dribbling down her chin combining with the blood spurting from the freshly-opened gash on her cheek. Yaxley stepped back this time, ensuring that his shoes remained clean.

He released the spell and she fell still, whimpering slightly, her eyes shut. He strode back to the door of the cell and it locked with a click. The footsteps faded away as Hermione's tears finally fell. Her heart beat through her eardrums. Her chest hurt when she breathe. She lay on her side in a pool of her own blood contemplating her position in life and her planned execution.

* * *

Draco sat on the bed of the guest house staring at the floor. Astoria had left him about an hour ago but he was in no rush to follow her. He despised her right now, her and her games. But he wondered what happened to put him in a position of choosing between his fiance and a mudblood he met just two weeks ago?

He shook his head, running his hands nervously down his pants. His palms felt sweaty and he felt almost suffocated in the room. The silence was pressing down on him and he was left alone with his mind, his thoughts swirling.

He wanted to push all the blame onto Astoria, blame her for pushing her nose into things. But he knew it was he who was to be blamed. He blamed himself for bringing her out of hiding and for being sucked into Hermione Granger. Draco felt guilty for getting Granger into this situation. He didn't know who had put out the bounty on Granger but he did now who turned her in. She was arrested in his own home. She was here because of him.

What would he do now? Should he just move on like Astoria said? Go back to the way things were? Thinking that Astoria may be right just made him sick though. There's no way she could be right. He couldn't just forsake Granger after he had gone through all the trouble of giving her a new life. He had renewed her hope and now that was all gone. Something must be done. But what? If he got anymore involved, then it would mean his reputation, all that he had rebuilt, possibly even his life.

Draco clumped up the cloak Astoria had handed to him. Memories of events that happened in the breaking light of the morning rose to the surface. He had felt relaxed, he had felt free, he had felt like right, and now all that was gone now. He threw the cloak across the room in frustration, his socks that were bundled inside flying farther than large garment. It landed with a muffled thump and he just stared at it unseeingly. It never made him feel better. However, his focus was drawn a white triangle sticking out of his inside pocket in contrast to the dark material.

He went over to the cloak and extracted the paper. This was the list he would show Hermione. This was his plan to make her safe, make her happy, to bring her back to as-close-to her old life. His eyes scanned the list and the notes and symbols on the right of each location. The list had been very hopeful and Draco was eager to share his find this morning. He knew this would have made her smile.

Draco stopped shaking and his palms had dried. He felt sure. Draco's mind was made up. He would do as she had asked him, as he had promised. He would reunite her with Potter and Weasley, but first he had to find them.

* * *

Harry and Ron were sitting at a table in one of the large empty rooms of the safehouse. They were surrounded with other leaders within their little organization waiting on Neville and Ginny. The pair had been sent out gather information regarding Hermione and the depressing news. As purebloods, although known Resistance supporters, it was definitely easier for them to move around than other members.

"Right now, we know she's still alive until the execution. They might have sent her to Azkaban because of its higher security," Dean said, gesturing to a longitudinal cross-section drawing of the isolated triangular prison.

Luna spoke up, "They'd want to keep her close though, so she might also be in the cells at the Ministry. If she is, then she'd be located in the cells on this floor." She pointed to the lowest floors on the blueprints of the Ministry on their right.

Harry looked back and forth between the maps as Ron spoke up, "We have to make a big choice then. We don't have the time to be in two places at once, or the manpower to be divided."

Harry looked out at everyone and asked, "What do we know about each place? What are the defences?"

Dean said, "Well we know Azkaban: dementors, the ocean and any other Death Eaters that may be stationed there simply because she's there. They go there for high profile prisoners and for the odd checkup, but they've already done their checkup for this month."

Harry nodded before turning back to Luna. She pointed along the different levels on the floor plan. "We would have to go through the main lobby of the Ministry, past all the Death Eaters, get to the lifts and they would probably have some security measure on the lift to get to those floors. There are two floors of cells. She would more than likely be on the lower floor. It's colder, more depressing. They like that kind of psychological effect on prisoners."

Ron then asked Harry, "Are we up for something like this? We may be grossly outnumbered and-"

A silent alarm went off and a blue light started glowing throughout the safehouse. The group disbanded, stowing away the blueprints. Wands drawn, the group ran out into the hallway, leaving Harry, Ron and Dean standing by the window.

They saw Neville and Ginny's head crest the top of the hill the safehouse sat on but they were bent low over something being held between them. As they got closer, Harry realized that Neville and Ginny were levitating a bound figure towards the house, its head covered with a black bag.

Harry, Ron and Dean moved out into the hallway as the front door opened, Neville in the lead. They levitated the body into a room of the side of the hallway near the door. Once he was properly bound to a chair, Harry ripped off the bag.

Everyone gasped at the sight of a stunned, silenced Draco Malfoy. He was hunched over in the chair, only held up straight by his restraints. His mouth hung open, blood and spittle drooling out. Harry looked over at Neville. "I got in a good one before we stunned him," Neville said holding up his right fist. Luna pointed her wand at the blond man and he spurred.

His eyes focused slowly on the sight before him. Everyone had their wands drawn, ready for whatever plan the Death Eater had for them. Even bound, they couldn't take their chances. But instead of being angry or confused, Malfoy looked relieved? His face soon adopted a look of nonchalance and he stared out at them boredly. He opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out as his lips moved. He stopped and then looked out at them, eyeing their wands pointedly.

Luna moved again and he coughed, his voice hoarse. He cleared his throat and nodded. "Lovegood." She offered a quiet, "You're welcome." Then he looked up at Harry and Ron. "Potter, Weasel, Granger's in trouble."

Ron stepped up, pushing his wand under Malfoy's neck. "It was your doing, wasn't it." he said, no question in his tone.

Malfoy stared down at the offending wand before speaking again, "Since I'm getting nowhere with Weasel, Harry, Granger's in trouble. She was looking for you and someone turned her in to the Ministry."

Harry narrowed his eyes at Malfoy, but turned to Neville and Ginny. "Where did you guys find him?"

Ginny cleared her throat then said, "He was hanging out around the edges of the safehouse. He couldn't see it but somehow he knew it was here. He saw us and was trying to tell us something but-"

Malfoy interrupted, "Thank you for knocking me out, girl Weasel." Ron poked him under the chin again, making him gag a bit.

Neville said, "We knocked him out but then thought he could give us some much needed information and decided to take him back here. If he has no useful information, then we Obliviate him."

Harry turned back to Malfoy, "What were you trying to tell them, Malfoy?"

Malfoy said, "I know where Granger is. I know how she was captured."

Ron shouted, "Then spit it out."

Even restrained, Malfoy still behaved like he was the one in the control, as if he was there of his own accord. "Granger is at the Ministry. She was arrested from my guest house at the Manor."

Ron's fist flew out and Malfoy's head snapped the other way. No one restrained him. Malfoy turned back to face them, his face red and the flow of blood from his mouth increased. He moved his jaw around a bit and then screamed, "Weasel! I'm trying to speak!"

"You've been torturing her, probably using her for your own twisted amusement. Then you got tired of her and turned her in." Ron reared his fist back and punched him again, Malfoy's head reeled, hitting the back of his chair.

Malfoy brought his head back up slowly. "Weasel, please stop. If you keep it out, then you won't hear what I have to say. No, I was doing nothing of the sort. She had been working at a strip club for the past five years. She was being abused, verbally, physically and sexually. I just happened to find her and gave her refuge in my house."

Everyone's eyes widened. They didn't know that's where Hermione had ended up. Harry spoke up, "Why would you do something like that?"

Malfoy chuckled, it sounded like grinding meat, "I'm not even sure. But I couldn't just leave her there. She looked like a kicked puppy."

Ron's fist came up again but Luna held him back. Malfoy continued, "I took her away from that place and washed her up. She was happy and she wanted to find you. I told her I'd help her but then the flyers were released and she was turned in."

Ginny's voice spoke up from behind the boys, "Then you must have turned her in. You were the only one who knew where she was."

Malfoy spoke quickly, eyeing Ron's hand warily. "My fiance found her and turned her in while I was away from home." Malfoy looked down. He seemed to be in an internal battle with his mind. Then he looked up, "I just want to help her. I didn't want her to be locked up. I don't want her executed."

Harry asked, "Why her? Why her and not the countless other muggleborns that have been tortured and killed, some at your own hand?"

Malfoy looked down again, "Granger is just... something. I don't know. She's changing me I think. I believed in this whole 'mudbloods are scum' thing my whole life, I fought against them since you've known me, and she's seemed to turn my whole life around. I don't think she deserves something like this. She's too good for something like this."

Harry thought he heard something else in Malfoy's voice but he couldn't dwell on it. Malfoy continued, "They've never had public executions before. There was never any reason. It didn't matter if people knew about who was dead. They weren't that concerned and people would hear anyways. However, they know that you'll come to save her, whatever the cost. You wouldn't let this just happen and then they'll be able to finally get rid of you. But there's also another benefit. By doing it publicly, they want to strike fear into everyone's heart, they want to make a statement, an example out of her. It is just sick." He spat on the floor, from the thought and from the accumulated blood in his mouth. Harry was feeling a bit green himself.

Ron then surprised everyone in the room and held his hand out towards Malfoy. "I don't trust you fully but I'm willing to form some type of truce to find Hermione. It would be good to have someone on the other side."

Luna looked between Ron's face, his hand, Malfoy and then Harry. With a small nod from the dark-haired man, she released Malfoy's restraints. He fell forward a bit before he caught himself and stood up. Everyone stood a bit straighter, except Ron whose hand was still extended. Draco reached out his hand and shook Ron's. Everyone visibly relaxed, their wands returning to their sides. And then Ron punched Malfoy in the gut. Malfoy crumpled to the floor winded. Ron stood over him and said, "Just don't cross us Malfoy," before spitting on him and then walking away from the group and out of the room.

Harry looked down at the groaning Malfoy and then towards his friends, "Now it's time to strategize. Luna, if you would please clean Malfoy up, then meet us in the next room."


	14. Breaking Up and Giving Up

_A/N: So Draco has just met up with the Resistance and formed an alliance, but now he must finally face Astoria. And Hermione waits to be rescued but knows that no one will come._

_Read and review. I do not own Harry Potter._

* * *

After his impromptu meeting with the Resistance, and ignoring the suspicious glances and obvious stares of his co-conspirators, all plans were hashed out and responsibilities were assigned. Even now, the plan was already in motion, but Draco had decided to head home.

His nerves were shot. He had never felt this apprehensive about anything. From a young age, Draco had been taught to always be in control of any situation. He had learnt how to maintain a level head in dire circumstances and to hide emotions that others could take advantage of. His knowledge of these attributes only increased when he joined the Raiders. They taught all their fighters about military tactics and acting without remorse or regret, to fight together but for also yourself.

Draco took a deep breath and rolled his shoulders. He had to shake off this horrible feeling and draw on all his lessons. He just hoped everything would work out. Draco glanced at his watch. He only had a couple hours before his role was to start and he didn't want anything to go wrong. There would be no room for error.

He walked through the front door of the manor before going up the stairs to his bathroom. He felt he needed a relaxing shower, anything to stop the horrible feeling in his stomach. He might also need a cup of coffee but he knew this was not that kind of stomach ache.

The water was ice cold but invigorating on his skin and helped to clear his mind. He focused solely on the droplets as they cascaded down his arms, torso and legs, and the shower walls. He tried not think about where Granger could be right now, was she hurt, if she was even still breathing. He opened his mouth under the deluge and the cold water stung his throat, snapping his thoughts back the shower. He spat out the water and quickly finished. The shower not helping like he thought he would.

He walked out of the bathroom with a green towel wrapped lazily around his waist, another swiping through his wet hair. When he finally pulled the towel off his head, he heard his bedroom door open. Across the room stood Astoria leaning gracefully in the doorway. Her lacy, silver bra and panties barely covered her body, while her skin seemed to glow under the orbs that lined their bedroom walls. Draco was frozen to the spot as she walked sensually towards him. Her ref-lined mouth moved but he could not hear a word she was saying. Her body was calling to him and his was answering the call as he felt member rub against the towel.

She was in front of him now and brought him into a deep kiss. He wrapped his arms around her bare waist and rested his palms on her smooth back to pull her closer, the towel in his hand falling to the floor forgotten. She moaned into his mouth when his cool skin touch her spine before she pulled back.

She placed her arms around his neck before leaning up to his ear and saying, "I should get new lingerie more often." He growled before She moved towards the bed, leaving him standing there. He watched as her hips swung, her bottom practically exposed by the lack of fabric her underwear provided.

But then he noticed that his bed had changed, the rug had changed, the dresser had changed. All his furniture had changed. She sat on the bed and turned to face, draping one leg casually over the other. When he hadn't moved, her mouth turned into a frown.

Then he said, "Toria, what happened to the furniture?"

She laughed a little before saying, "I thought our bedroom needed a change, and with the money I got, I was able to get the most beautiful furniture, and a couple of outfits that you would love so much. Like this one." She lay back on the bed and gestured to her body. It seemed that she had specifically chosen it in order to compliment the new green bedspread.

Draco looked at her quizzically though. The changes had thrown him off and now his mind was clearer. "Toria, where did you get the money for this?" he said.

Astoria's smile fell. "When have you ever cared about money, Draco?"

"This is the money from the bounty?" he asked, thought he was sure he already knew the answer.

"Money is money, Draco," she said haughtily.

He shouts, "This is blood money! I want no part of this."

He strode over to the closet leaving her on the bed on shock. Her shock quickly turned into fury as she jumped off the bed and launched herself at him. They stumbled to the floor with her on top of him. His towel slid down and formed a peak over his groin, leaving him partially exposed.

"I see someone is still happy about my new underwear," Astoria smirked before latching onto Draco's neck.

Draco couldn't fight back the moan that erupted from his throat as she nibbled on the tender flesh where his neck met his shoulder. He saw her long flowing hair splayed across his chest. He felt her warm skin against his. She was using her body to get her way. He tried pushing her off him but she held onto tight, straddling his hips and effectively pinning him to the floor. Her proximity was making it hard for his body to resist and he cursed his male hormones. He then surprised her by grabbing her under the legs and threw her off him.

She fell onto the floor a few feet away, one of her bra strap slipping off her shoulder. She swiped a hand across her mouth which smeared her lipstick. She screamed at him, "You blood traitor! You're still stuck on that stupid mudblood and you would choose her over me? I hope she burns tomorrow and her filthy blood with her!"

Draco did not deny her claim but he looked at her incredulously. "How can you say about another human being, Toria!"

She laughed, "Just a few weeks ago, you wouldn't have thought her a human being, Draco. She was the scum underneath your boot. She has really got you hooked. I would never think this would happen to you of all people! I tried to give you an out, to just sweep this under the rug, but no!"

She rose to her feet and moved towards the door, "Now, everyone will know who the real Draco Malfoy is! Everything you worked for will be for naught! They'll lock you up and you can finally be with her. You'll burn along with her!"

He quickly got up and ran to his bedside table. Grabbing his wand, he cast a body bind curse at her retreating back. She fell back and he rushed to cushion her head. Her face was frozen in a state of shock, her bra strap still hanging loose. Draco placed her on the bed and covered her with the bed sheet.

Draco ran a hand through his wild hair and took some grasping breaths. He looked down at Astoria in disgust and then at himself for almost being trapped in her wiles. Everything she said was true. Granger was the scum under his boot but now she wasn't. He had chosen Granger over Astoria, the engagement now broken if it wasn't obvious. Granger had him hooked and he didn't mind it. He wanted her. But Astoria's words also brought him back to a startling reality: Granger would burn tomorrow. Not if he could help it.

Draco dressed quickly before leaving Astoria in the bed alone. He would deal with her later.

* * *

Hermione sits against the stark cold wall staring straight ahead at the opposing wall. She had been entertaining images of dashing knights coming to rescue from her prison. She had thought of a means to escape and go back into hiding. But images can only last so long before the last glimmers of hope are snuffed out.

She wonders how she got here, who ratted her out, but it doesn't matter really. She curses Malfoy for 'saving' her. She had been hidden for 5 years, scared but 'safe' under Mr James' watchful eye. She was alive and 'free'. He should have just left her alone, moved on and out of her life. Then she wouldn't be here. She wouldn't have been turned in. She wouldn't have felt anything towards him. She wouldn't have been given this 'hope' just for it to be gone again.

The night grows long and the new day grows closer. Her death is inevitable and she has accepted her fate. She wonders how much it will hurt, how much more intense it is than the strongest pain she's ever felt, how much more than the Cruciatus she felt hours before. Maybe she'll pass out from the initial pain, but she knows that won't happen. She knows they will draw it out as long as possible, that they will want to hear her scream out in agony, they will want her to hurt. How long will she last?

Alone with her thoughts, she had convinced herself that this is just punishment. She deserves this cell, she deserves this life and she deserves this death. She was born impure, she had fought in the war, made many enemies and killed many people, and though her side had won, the was still raged on and now she was the one losing. She was the one paying for the sins of others. She would be made an example of for others to see. And she could do nothing about it.

So she sits there and waits until they retrieve her. She waits until walk her to her death chamber. She waits until they finally take her life and she can be truly free. Her only regret is that she never got to see Harry and Ron again.


	15. Frazzled Nerves and Vacant Eyes

_A/N: I think my story is almost done. I don't really have a plan after the next two chapters so I just might end it then. Thanks all who have stuck with me this far, and all my reviewers._

_I hope you enjoy this chapter. I haven't yet decided how Hermione will be executed: burnt, hanged, crucified, electrocuted, etc. I'm leaning towards burning but I'm not sure. I would love to hear from you about what you think, if you liked it, if you disliked it, etc. Just no flames or hurtful comments. Constructive criticism please. And I do not own Harry Potter._

* * *

Draco took a deep breath as he exited the floo into the Ministry atrium. No one should think it strange for him to be here at 2 in the morning. He was known to be an overnight worker and often screaming at anyone who chose to question it, so people generally avoided him. His eyes darted around the room and anyone whose gaze he held quickly looked away. _**Everything's normal.**_

He walked through the sparse crowd that lingered around after hours, keeping his head down. He still didn't want to draw any attention to himself. He didn't know how much people knew about Granger or his involvement if at all.

He was almost in the clear, waiting for the lift when sure footsteps clacked up beside him. He turned right into the intimidating stare of Yaxley himself. He stood at attention and offered his salute, lowering his hand at Yaxley's stiff nod.

"Malfoy, working late as usual?" he said, more than asked. Draco merely nodded. Yaxley seemed content to speak without response.

"You haven't been in all day. Been skiving off?" Again another non-question, this time with a raised eyebrow. Draco held his breath. Yaxley was man who bided his time, wanting his victim to squirm.

Draco wasn't sure just how much trouble he was in but he would not give Yaxley that opportunity, so he bravely and cleverly said, "I've been searching for the mudblood as _you_ ordered. All other missions were deemed of lesser priority so there was no reason to come here today."

Yaxley nodded again, almost as if he expected Draco to say those exact words. It irked Draco when he knew the man was shitting through his teeth and actually mostly clueless of the things around him. But then again, he didn't get where he was by being stupid. There was still a deeper, eviller cunning inside the man. Draco had to step lightly around him if he didn't want to arouse any suspicions.

"I hope your search was fruitful." There was no hope there, just a curl of his mouth and Draco sneered back. _**Now he's just baiting me.**_

"Though the search was uneventful, I see the results are the same. The mudblood is now within our cells and awaiting execution." Draco fought to keep the bile down at the thought of Granger's execution.

"I find it hard to believe that the mudblood could be hiding on your own grounds without your knowledge up until now," he said, still scrutinizing Draco for any change or slip-up.

"She was the brightest witch of our age, must have had a bunch of tricks up her sleeve to go about undetected, but she slipped up in the end. I was off the grounds but Astoria was home when she resurfaced and turned her in," he responded coolly. He was wasting valuable time with this useless conversation. But how would he get away from Yaxley to get to Granger's cell?

"Would you like to visit our little fugitive?" Now Yaxley's eyes glinted dangerously. Draco knew that look, but he couldn't say no. The Draco of two weeks would never say no.

So Draco just smirked ruefully and said, "Lead the way, Sir."

* * *

"Do you really thing it was a good idea to let Malfoy go off on his own without one of us?" Dean asked glancing nervously towards Harry.

Harry was perusing the floor plan of the Ministry for probably twelfth time while he said, "He's the only one of us that can get close to Hermione right now. All of us are supposed to be 'dead' or 'missing' remember? We need to keep out of it until the right time."

Dean said exasperatedly, "But how do you know he won't turn on us? Maybe even tell them where we are? We could have Raiders bursting through the doors right now."

Right after Dean said that, there were some hard knocks on the door of the small study they had holed up in for the night, startling the two. Dean gave Harry a pointed glance mixed with nervousness and fear. The two held their wands at the ready when the door swung inwards forcibly.

"Stupefy! Impendimenta!" The two shouted and the figure luckily stepped back, allowing the two spells to fire out into the hallway. Unfortunately, a fellow member happened to be running pass the hallway and was frozen in place by the second jinx. Neville looked at them with his mouth open as Harry and Dean sheathed their wands.

"Sorry mate, can't take any chances." Dean said gravely.

Neville glanced back at the small frozen girl slowly regaining some movement in her legs before he giving Dean a swift nod. He entered the room and stood before Harry. "Ron and I have outfitted everyone and all the gear has been checked. Ginny and Luna are finishing up the Polyjuice, so we should be ready to move at 6."

Harry peeked at his watch. 2:30. It was Malfoy's job to ensure a way to get to and from Hermione undetected. He would return to them aroung 5 and then they would all leave at 6. The execution was scheduled for noon, so they wanted her out of there with time to spare. They knew all hell would break loose once she was found missing.

He hoped Malfoy had gotten to Hermione by now. He needed her to know that they were coming. He could only imagine what she could be going through, her physical and mental state. Reluctant as he was to say it, he needed Malfoy to comfort her, to give her hope when all things seemed dark.

He exhaled loudly, "Dean, ensure that all our guests will be safe while we're all out. Who's staying behind?"

Dean thought and then said, "The Creevey brothers and Corner elected to keep guard."

Harry nodded, "Good. I'll need to talk to them before we head out. Let's find them now."

They stood together, their muscles taut and their jaws set, before exiting the room. They knew something big was going to happen. Now they just had to wait.

* * *

The lower floor of the Ministry cells were seldom used. Draco has only been here a few times in his career as most of his arrests were held on the upper floor or sent straight to Azkaban. The place smelled damp, with the faint smell of dried blood and excrement. This is where warm, brown eyed Granger was being held? He almost didn't want to see her now. It would be a crushing reality that this is what he had done to her, that he had gotten her here.

His feet felt heavy as he followed Yaxley. The light from the lift became fainter and further as they walked along with odd torch every 50 metres. Draco wondered just how far they were going as his eyes strained in the dim corridor. when Yaxley suddenly stopped and Draco sputtered to refrain from walking into his back. Yaxley pointed his wand at the rusted bars of the cell to his right. Draco peered into the confined space but it was too dark for him to make out anything but a large lump against the back wall. _**Granger?!**_

He wanted to run to her right now, probably stun Yaxley and carry her body up the lift and right out the doors. He'd stun anyone in his way, take down 100 men if he had to... if he were a Gryffindor and he didn't know better that he would surely be dead before he even boarded the lift. He was a Slytherin so he kept his expression smug and controlled, regarding her unmoving body with a look of boredom and borderline sick curiosity.

"I thought you'd like to punish her for yourself, for having the gall to come within even 500 yards of you." Yaxley was face was full-blown excitement at the prospect of watching Draco in action. It was always a delight for anyone to see him. They seemed to admire just how detached and cold he was towards his victims. It made the torture that much more sinister and unforgiving.

He saw the lump jump slightly when Yaxley's voice echoed off the concrete walls, but for the most part, still remained motionless. She must have heard the footsteps as they got closer but actually hearing his voice was much scarier.

The two men entered the cell and Draco remained near the entrance as Yaxley approached her body. He could see that she was lying on her side with her back to the cell door. "Up, mudblood!" Yaxley sneered as he looked down at her body in disgust.

She did not move when he spoke, but Malfoy could see the lump become even more motionless if that was possible.

Yaxley kicked the base of her spine and she flew out of her fetal position, scrabbling frantically at the air. Draco sucked in a soft breath that Yaxley was too focused on Granger to notice. Low whimpers now bounced about in the silence and Yaxley turned back to Draco. "Come forward, Malfoy. She's awake."

Draco's feet moved on its own accord until he too was standing above Granger. Her eyes were shut as she trembled but even in the dim light, he could see the shimmering on her cheeks. He kept his face blank as he looked down at her and then said, "We need her to be as sane as possible for the execution later. It won't be as fun if she's already mad before it even starts."

He saw the edges of Yaxley's mouth turn down on the side that face the hallway. He was looking forward to a show and from Draco's tone, he wasn't going to get one. "I still think she needs to woken up, just a bit. Can't get too comfortable."

Before Draco could say anything to oppose or divert Yaxley's thoughts, the older man whispered, "Crucio," with his wand angled to the girl's body.

Draco had to admire her strength. Even after all she had been through, he was sure Yaxley had already tortured her at least once since she had been here, she tried to keep silent through the spell. However, it was harder for her to prevent her body from contorting and soon her tearing muscles forced an anguished and painful cry from her mouth. It sounded like her soul itself was being exorcised in that scream.

Draco could feel Yaxley's eyes on him as the spell ripped through Granger's body, like this was all a test of Draco's resolve and resilience. But still, Draco maintained his composure. He tried to detach himself from the situation, to pretend this wasn't the girl he had gotten to know and love over the past two weeks. If he didn't, he probably do something rash.

But soon Yaxley frowned and jerked his wand upwards, ending the spell. There were loud, harsh gasps coming from the fragile girl. She now lay twisted with her back on the floor but legs still on their side. Draco could see a light glinting off the corners of her mouth, a reflection against something dark and thick. The cell was now pungent with the smell of Granger's blood and Draco wanted to throw up.

But then Yaxley said, "Malfoy, now it is your turn. One more won't hurt. And now, she's awake and definitely lucid."

Draco started to protest while wildly thinking of a way to get out of it, "Sir, the mudblood smell will stick to my-"

Yaxley came up in his face now and practically spat in his face, "Are you going to do it or not, young Malfoy?"

This was the illusion of choice, making it seem like it was possible to go against this man. Draco was smarter than to think he really had an option now. The real message behind the question was: torture her or I torture you. Draco looked down at Yaxley's wand which was inconspicuously pointed at his chest.

Draco gulped and saluted again. "Yes, Sir."

Yaxley grinned and stepped back to watch the show. Draco looked down and saw that Granger's eyes were opened now. The blood from her mouth at formed a puddle on the ground, which then painted her cheek from where she lay in it a few seconds ago. Her hands were still frozen into claws above her chest and she shuddered as random shocks flowed through her body. But what really frightened him was her eyes: cold, vacant, dead. He could see the defeat there, and he was sure if she were in her right mind, he would see a hint of betrayal and hurt. But instead she just looked at him, hardly even recognizing him as her mind still whirled from Yaxley's curse.

Draco dared not even look back at the man. That would be a sign of weakness and Draco definitely could not afford that, for himself and for the plan. He had to be the Draco from two weeks ago. So instead, he did what he had to do, silently praying that she knew how much he regretted doing so.

The word was almost unsaid but it was obvious the curse had taken effect as the girl's body flopped on the stone floor like a gasping fish. With each time she hit the floor, her body splashed the puddle of blood that formed underneath her, splattering the walls and Draco's shoes and robes. Her screams this time sounded like that of a banshee, calling out for death that was sure to come if this continued. He could imagine the glee in Yaxley's eyes, his enjoyment at the pain of the 'less-than-an-animal'.

Then the curse was lifted, but the silence it left behind was deafening. Granger wasn't even whimpering, or crying, or anything. There was no more sound and Draco was afraid he had gone too far and actually killed her. Yaxley thought so too as he rushed up to the girl and kicked her back again. She did not move or flinch but they noticed the faint, slow rise and fall of her chest.

"She's merely unconscious. It's almost a pity." Yaxley said while surveying her. Then he drew himself upright and moved towards the door. "I'll be in my office to make the final preparations. Get yourself cleaned up, Malfoy. We will be moving her out by 10."

Draco remained frozen in his spot even as he heard the lift climb back up to the higher floors. He was just staring at the girl, no the corpse, he had just mangled, the corpse that was bleeding its pain and sorrow onto the cold stones.

He crouched down and cradled her in his arms, not caring that her blood was soaking into his expensive robes. He pushed his face into her hair and held her close, slowly rocking her back and forth. It was coarse against his face, but also matted from wet and dry blood and dirt. But he didn't care, even when his face became streaked red and brown, because this was all his fault. He deserved to be in her place, he deserved to be the one unconscious now, he deserved to be dead for putting this angel in harm's way.

He kissed her forehead and then whispered into the darkness, "I'll get you out of here, Hermione, I promise."


	16. The Plot and the Twist

_A/N: We getting somewhere now. Plan and rescue has begun. There's no real emotions in this chapter. Just a lot of details and setup and a little bit of action and suspense. Mostly from Draco's POV._

_Someone gave me a suggestion for an ending but when I think about it, I don't think even Draco would want Astoria dead, so I won't kill her. She doesn't have much to do with the story anymore so I'll leave her knocked out in the bed for now._

_I hope you like this chapter. Favourite, follow and review. Check out my other fics if you haven't yet. I__ do not own Harry Potter._

_**...TWT...**_

Draco had pulled himself together after leaving Granger in the cell. He was unable to pass Potter's message to the unconscious girl and he couldn't risk someone else seeing any note he left behind while he was out. He went up to Yaxley's office in order to go over the proceedings. He then looked over the duty roster to learn who would be stationed in the Ministry before and during the proceedings, which hallways would be left unattended and who would be the easiest to dupe and sneak by unnoticed, before leaving the Ministry.

The front door of the safehouse creaked open as Draco was escorted inside by Longbottom. It was darker now, the sun still not up yet. Draco looked down at his watch. 5:35. He had returned a bit later than he hoped and cursed himself for going over time. He hoped that Potter was ready to finalize things. His information was crucial as only so much could be done from the outside.

Longbottom led him into the room that he had been in before. Potter, Weasley, girl-Weasley, Lovegood, and Thomas were already there. They seemed to be the higher ups of this little organization. He would have thought it comical that he would be looking towards this bunch for help but there was nothing funny about this situation. Granger's life was at stake.

The newcomers sat in the last two available seats directly across from Potter and Weasley. Everyone looked irritated at his lateness but Potter stood up and said, "We can't focus on the timing right now. Malfoy, what did you find out?"

Draco pulled out a copy of the duty roster he had made and then pulled the Ministry map over to him. He muttered a spell he usually used when devising his own missions, which caused the map to float off the paper rendered in three dimensions. He ignored the looks of awe on Longbottom and girl-Weasley's faces and as he began his explanation.

He waved his wand towards the atrium. "When I left, there were some overnighters and early risers already there. Other Raiders should be coming by now for some early morning training and debriefing. By 7, most people will be coming in for work, so the atrium will be very crowded and can be used for coverage, but only for about 2 hours. The crowd thins then."

He moved his wand up to level B1. "Yaxley's office is here, the Minister's office, as well as Avery and Nott's. Avery stays in his office and on the Raider floor, while Nott stays in office all day. Yaxley, however, likes to move around a lot and check in all the Raider leaders and other supervisors and their departments. We have to be a bit cautious, especially with all the preparations he'll be making today."

He moved his wand down to the floor right below. "The Raiders mainly stay on level B2, where the training rooms are. They only leave this level for lunch so we shouldn't have too much trouble with them if we head straight for the cells.

I can arrange for an empty lift to be available for you guys for you to take to the cells but you must be quick. Yaxley has a knack for noticing when things seem out of the ordinary."

He finally moved his wand down to the prisoner cells. "They had removed the courtrooms years ago, as you know, and made two levels of prison cells. Granger is on the lower floor and in this cell at the end." He poked at the air in the position. "I'll be standing outside to open the cell door. Only Raider leaders and the top three can open the cells."

"Now, it will be difficult to get her out. People will notice you dragging her around, so you need to be very careful." He gestured now to a small area on level B2 and passed the duty roster for them to see. "There is a small exit/entrance here for Raiders to move in and out quickly. Horton and Thwaites will be guarding that entrance this morning and they can easily be distracted or subdued if necessary. So I'll leave that to you. I'll have already gone back to Yaxley, Avery and Nott trying everything to make sure they have no reason to go near the cells or the Raider level."

Everyone had stayed quiet during his explanation. He looked over at Potter who was still scanning the roster. When Potter finally looked up, he nodded at Draco before turning to the others. "Did everyone get that?"

There were murmurs of consent and a few questions thrown for clarification. Once answered, Draco vanished the image of the Ministry and asked, "Have all the preparations been made here?"

Girl-Weasley spoke up, "The Polyjuice has just been finished, so we'll take it just before we leave."

"What about the gear?" Draco asked.

"We don't have much. Only fire-proof gloves and jackets, a few smokebombs and dungbombs."

Draco cursed his breath. He knew they wouldn't be as well off as the Raiders were, but that was practically nothing. "I'm going to go over what you have. We'll have to make a few things so make up for what we're lacking."

The Thomas boy then added, "We have four others coming along with us, just in case we need help or backup."

"No, already having six is too much. No more." Having too many people in a team was bad. This is why the Raiders only moved in threes or fours. It was hard to control and rely on so many people at once.

Weasley nodded then said, "Malfoy may be right. Too many people may make it harder to move around and get out quickly. We'll send down only two to meet with Malfoy and the rest of us will just stay by the lifts and the atrium."

The way the others looked at Weasley, Draco could tell he was usually the one that made up the plans. Draco was just happy someone agreed so he wouldn't have to explain every little thing. They were losing time.

Potter placed his hands on the table and leaned over into the middle. "Okay, we know what we have to do and well-thought out plan to go by. It is now 6:20, so we are behind what we initially planned. Malfoy will go and assess the gear before he leaves ahead of us. We will leave here by 7 and make use of the coverage. Dean, tell the others to stay here. It'll just be us. We will contact them only if it's necessary."

They all broke and left the room. Things were falling into place.

**_...TWT..._**

Draco re-entered the Ministry for the second time that morning. As he expected, the atrium was beginning to fill, as the floo constantly flared to life in the fireplaces around him. He nodded at a few of his acquaintances and glared at others and made his way to the lifts.

He exited at level B2 first and walked out into the small reception-like area and towards the sign-in sheet. He needed to see who would was already here and if necessary, run interference.

"Malfoy!" a voice called from the hallway to his right.

Summers came up to him wearing his training uniform. He was covered in a thin sheen of sweat that reflected the glow of the lights in the ceiling. Normally, Draco would have been conducting their training right now, running them all ragged, but he wasn't their squad leader today. "Summers," he said with a nod.

Summers saluted before dropping his hand. His voice was breathy, "Why aren't you in training? We had to join with Donahue's group and they were such shit that I took over the whole thing."

Draco took in the man before him and said, "Well you seem to be doing a good job. I have things to attend to today."

Summers nodded and then his eyes seemed to light up. "Oh with the mudblood we turned in. Unfortunate you couldn't have been there when he got her from Astoria, but she said you were out. You would have loved it."

He adopted a look of disgust and said, "Yes. To believe that a mudblood was actually on my property. I had to scour all the surfaces and wash the grass just be safe."

Summers just chuckled and said, "Well, we'll be in for a treat today at 10."

_**10? What happened to noon?**_ Draco face actually blanched, causing Summers to raise an eyebrow. "You didn't hear?"

Draco ignored the question and asked his own, "Where's Yaxley?"

Summers looked back to the lift over Draco's shoulder. "He came here about an hour ago. Told us we could all take a break from training to attend the festivities. Most of us will be part of security. Don't know where he went after."

Draco turned away from the man and all but ran to the lift. "Malfoy?" Summers called out, curious with Draco's sudden change in demeanour.

"Back to training, Summers! No slacking off just because I'm not there!" Draco shouted with an authoritative tone before riding the lift down to the cells.

It couldn't move fast enough before he was stumbling blindly through the narrow dark corridor. All he could hear were his laboured breaths and his loud steps. He reached the end, the darkest section of the hall, and stared into her cell. He couldn't hear her and it was too dark to see.

Opening the door, he stepped in with his wand lit. The cell was empty, his footsteps even more amplified by the enclosed space. All that remained was the blood that had dried on the walls and the ground since he was last here.

He screamed out, his voice bouncing around and emphasizing his rage. Yaxley had moved her out early to Merlin knows where. Hopefully he hadn't already left for the execution. He looked down at his watch. The others should have already gotten here by now. He had to tell them.

He was ten feet away when a new lift rolled into view revealing Nott. The lift doors opened and Nott said, "Oh, Malfoy. I was told you would be down here to check on the captive. You were not there when we made the change. Let's go, boy." Nott stepped to the side with an appraising look.

Draco could assume that Yaxley was out of the building if Nott was left in charge. Draco would have scowled, he hated being called boy, but instead he saluted upon Nott's look. Inwardly, he worried. How would he tell them now?

"Yes, sir. Just let me clean my robes from the stench." He turned away from the lift with his back to Nott. After muttering a quick spell, he turned back to his superior and ascended to the upper levels.

**_...TWT..._**

The rescue team suited up after Malfoy had gone over the equipment. He had really helped them for now they had charmed protective clothing and transfigured goggles and gloves, as well as more evasive equipment. They had obtained hair from witches and wizards in Diagon Alley on various occasions for the polyjuice potion. After drinking the foul liquid, they apparated to another of their abandoned safehouses and used the floo from there to the Ministry in pairs.

Harry and Ron appeared first, drawing their cloaks high on their necks. Their bodies felt awkward as they were unused to the shorter height of the men they were impersonating. They glowered at anyone who looked too long at them as they walked purposefully to the lifts. They would go directly to the cells.

Neville and Ginny came through next and followed after Harry and Ron. They move swiftly to stand by the lifts and await Harry and Ron's return. They gazed lazily out at the crowd, whispering furtively behind their hands.

Dean and Luna came through last and loitered about the atrium. They separated from each other and mingled among the crowd. Dean had already engaged a beautiful witch in an intense conversation about the new Centaur policy. If her giggling were anything to go off on, they were getting along swimmingly. Luna moved to inspect all the posters that were posted on a nearby bulletin board. They would alert Neville and Ginny to any changes or people who seemed suspicious.

Harry had to refrain from touching his face. It felt strange to not have feel the weight of glasses on bridge of his nose. He tapped Ron's shoulder as he began to slouch. They were purebloods who had to walk with dignity and grace. Hopefully, no one would recognize like the last time they were at the Ministry under polyjuice.

They stood in the crowd waiting for the next free lift. Ron leaned over, his voice much deeper than usual, "Weren't we supposed to have a reserved lift?"

Harry just surveyed the crowd and looked for Neville and Ginny, a tall, lanky wizard and short, brown haired witch. They moved closer to him and Harry relayed their worries. Two lifts arrived and workers emptied into the waiting area. Harry and Ron quickly rushed into a lift while Ginny 'fainted', causing a snobbish Neville to scowl down at her and audibly insult her incessant need to give into her womanly wiles and cause a scene. The others waiting for the lift froze, easily distracted. They couldn't resist watching someone else's misfortune or reprimand. Harry quickly mashed the button and he and Ron descended to the lower cells.

**_...TWT..._**

Draco and Nott stepped out onto level B1 and walked down the hall towards Nott's office, past Yaxley's and Avery's closed doors. Nott moved behind his desk and handed a sheet of parchment to Draco. Draco read the agenda of the day and his duties. Nott explained while still searching his desk.

"All the squad leaders will be part of the guard positioned directly around the pyre. You are in charge of them. Avery is already with the others getting ready. You will go down and meet him and the other squad leaders and leave together. I have to manage who will be in attendance. The event has drawn a large crowd with many important partners and delegates."

Draco bit his tongue. There was a sick fascination in humans to watch other's pain, whether they admitted it or not. "Where is Yaxley?"

Nott looked up at him strangely before diverting his attention back to the various papers on his desk. "Yaxley has already gone to the arena, overseeing the set up of the pyre."

Draco couldn't help but ask, "And the mudblood?"

"Same." Nott replied curtly.

Granger was out with Yaxley. He could only hope in vain that she was all right. He knew Yaxley wouldn't hold back to have a bit of fun before the big show. He had to get out of here. Draco offered a salute that he held until Nott looked up. With a dismissive wave, Draco left his office and headed down to the Raider level.

_**...TWT...**_

The lift doors opened and Harry and Ron stared down the empty corridor hesitantly. Ron drew is cloak closer around him with an involuntary shiver. It was definitely colder down here. Harry pushed him forward. As they stepped out, the lift rose back to the higher levels, taking its small light with them.

"Lumos," Harry whispered, bathing them in blue light. He pointed down the hall, "Malfoy said she'd be at the farthest cell."

They moved carefully, unsure if any other prisoners or dangers lay in wait. As they approached the cell, they realized that Malfoy was nowhere to be found. They ran and then peered into the last cell on the right.

"Hermione?" Ron whispered. Harry turned the light into the cell and saw nothing there. Ron shouted, "That Malfoy! What now?"

The pair ran back to the lift wondering what they would do now. Hermione could be anywhere and it was obvious that Malfoy had either turned on them or already ratted them out. They both drew their wands in anticipation for a fight once they reached the lift.

Ron pressed the button on the wall, summoning a lift for them. In the dank surroundings, the light from the lift was most welcome. It bounced off the walls and was almost swallowed by the oppressing darkness but wait! There was a sheen on the wall. Harry almost missed it.

"Ron!" he said, clasping a firm hand on his friend's broad shoulder. He shone his wand light at the wall. Something was there. He saw a glimmer on the faded stone. "There's something here?"

The two stared at the wall and Harry said, "Aparecium!" The wall glowed silver before words began to draw themselves in large letters. "**QWC 1994**"

Should he believe this message? It was still Malfoy and it could be a trap to throw them off the trail. But then he remembered the Malfoy who had come to the safehouse of his own accord. He remembered the way he spoke about Hermione, that tone he couldn't place at time. It was concern, maybe even love, but he didn't want to jump to conclusions just yet. But Harry knew for certain, Malfoy wanted her freed just as much as they did. He was still on their side.

"They've taken her to the arena, the stadium where the Quidditch World Cup was in 4th year. We have to get the others." Harry said as they entered the lift.

_**...TWT...**_

"Malfoy," Avery said as the young blonde strode up to him with a quick salute. Before him were assembled the other squad leaders, Donahue, Rowles, and 5 others in the same reception-like area. They all saluted to him as well, before Avery spoke. "Now that we're all accounted for. Your squads have already been sent ahead to provide security for the attendees. You will stay near the stage. Let's go." They moved towards the Raiders entrance then apparated away.

The nine men landed in a welcoming room before walking out into the bright stadium. It definitely looked different than the last time he had been here but that was about ten years ago. The goal posts had been removed and the stands were already filled with curious spectators. Draco could see the gradient of splendour and riches as the seats rose. The most noble purebloods were seated near the front and up close, ranging to the lowest halfbloods high above.

He walked ahead of the other leaders and behind Avery towards the stage set up in the middle of the pitch. A tall cross was erected in its centre and surrounded by many large boards. Draco looked around the pitch but no Yaxley. He expected him to be on the stage but so far was nowhere to be seen.

"Fan out around the stage," Avery said gruffly before striding up the stairs to stand next to the cross. Draco stationed four of the leaders on the grass around the stage, while he and the other three stood on the corners of the stage itself. He looked at his watch. 9:35. He could feel the anticipation in the crowd from here. Where were the others?

* * *

The atrium was much less crowded now but the stragglers still stared at the harried pair exiting the lifts. Meeting up with an aloof-looking Neville and Ginny, and a mildly curious Dean surveying the atrium, Harry asked them, "Where's Luna?"

Dean pointed and they saw Luna conversing animatedly with a short, balding wizard across the green tiled floor. Although she now had long, straight black hair, there was no mistaking Luna's mannerisms. They signalled to her above the man's head and she slowly came towards them. "The execution starts at 10, in less than an hour, but without an invitation, it'll be hard to get closer than section B." Ron cursed under his breath.

"We still have to go. We can't let that stop us." Harry said, herding them towards the floo.

"Say Trillenium Stadium Section B," Luna said as Harry stepped forward. He recited the location and was whisked away in a flurry of green flames. The others soon followed.

_**...TWT...**_

Yaxley stood in front of a floor length mirror in the VIP lounge of the stadium. He inspected his appearance while adjusting his robes and hair. He had to look immaculate today. It was a special occasion.

He heard soft whimpering behind him and turned to look at the small cage placed in the far corner of the room. The mudblood lay inside, her hands and legs tied, with a cloth wrapped around her mouth and eyes. She seemed to be stirring, slowly rolling onto her back on the metal floor. There were large drops of blood staining the tattered shirt he had given her to wear. He had 'accidentally' reopened her wounds during transport.

He walked up and banged hard on the cage, causing her to jump. She whimpered more, her fear heightened by her restraints and lack of sight. "Soon, mudblood. Be patient," he cooed.

There was a knock on the door and a young Raider walked in with an urgent look on his face. Yaxley scowled, irked by the interruption even though he had requested it. After a quick salute, the nervous troop said, "Six unregistered wands have breached our wards."

His lips curled at the good news. "Excellent."


	17. The Show and The Rescue

_A/N: Aha! The rescue has begun! Will they get to Hermione in time? I know someone ask me not actually execute Hermione but wouldn't that make for a good story? To have Draco mourn over her dead body, cursing himself for getting her killed. Let's read. Review please._

_Rated M for language, blood and torture. Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

**_...TWT..._**

Harry and the rest of his team appeared in a room lit by a solitary candle, but the sunlight pouring through the doorway was more than enough to see by. Adjusting their awkward packs and gear strapped to their bodies, they stepped out into the open. The sun was bright at 9:45 and the stands were hot, made even more so by the number of people squashed together. Shading their eyes, they pushed through the crowd to get to the lowest row of section B.

At the barrier to section A were two guards. They wore deep frowns and hot black clothing. They were obviously uncomfortable in the heat but they held their stations. With their hands crossed, they eyed the group suspiciously.

Neville walked forward, causing the guard on the right to place a firm hand on his chest, pushing him back slightly. "Invitation only." the man barked.

Neville scoffed. "Do you know who I am?" he said imposingly. The guard replied, "Do I look like I give a fuck? Invitation only."

Neville turned up his nose at the guard, his hand moving slowly to his wand on hip. The two guards moved their own wands, causing Neville to pause. He scoffed again before turning dramatically with a swish of his cloak.

Once with the others, Neville whispered furtively, "How are we going to get closer without raising suspicions?"

Harry looked around the pitch before whispering back, "We can't break character now. It's too soon. She's not even out yet."

They all looked down on the pitch. They could see the stage set up in the middle of the pitch, the large cross and kindling at its centre, but no Hermione. Eight guards were stationed around the cross, but Malfoy's bright hair stood out among them.

Reluctantly, the group then squeezed into the row to their right, Ginny glaring at the witches there, forcing them out of their seats.

_**...TWT..**_

Avery stepped to the front of the stage and gestured his arms widely outwards, effectively quieting the crowd. With his wand on his throat, he greeted, "Welcome, one and all. You are in store for a treat today." There was a polite roar from the crowd before him and dispersed clapping the stands above. It didn't matter their opinions. This was happening either way.

"I would like to introduce our leader and the star of our event." Avery moved to the side and everyone waited, looking around the pitch for the newcomers.

Soon, a small dark square appeared in the floor of the stage and up rose Yaxley in splendid dark blue robes with an elegant silver cane. Beside him was a waist-high rusted cage. There were large dents in its sides, making the space inside even smaller. Avery peered into the cage in earnest. He could see the wretched girl lying on the floor trembling. Her small sounds were drowned out by the crowd's load roar. Avery was curious but he knew it would be out of line to step forward. This was Yaxley's moment and no one would interfere.

Yaxley stepped away from the cage to the front of the stage. Wand pointed at his throat, his voice was amplified to fill the stadium. "Behind me is one of the saviours of the Wizarding World, one who defeated the Dark Lord and brought peace and unity to our society." He gestured at the cage with his cane, casting a silent spell with his concealed wand. The top the cage opened and the bound girl rose out, hovering fifteen feet in the air behind him. Her head hung limp, her chin meeting her chest as her hands and feet were bound.

"She paved the way for our futures. We all owe her, along with Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, our lives and the freedom we have today, to do as we want without fear of the Dark Lord's wrath."

He couldn't stop the chuckle magnified around the pitch as he began to circle the girl like a wild animal. "Unfortunately, she has been a fugitive from birth. She is guilty of the crime of possessing magical abilities of which her kind should never have been allowed."

There was some booing in the crowd in section A, the rest of the crowd was frozen in silence.

"Now, we had intended to punish her parents for giving birth to this girl. They are the cause of her existence. But we found they were already dead. They escaped their own punishment but she must still pay for her sins." Yaxley waved his wand again and the girl levitated towards the cross.

_**...TWT...**_

Draco stood frozen from his place at the front right corner of the stage watching Granger's prone form float lazily towards the cross. She moved slowly back and forth against her restraints. Draco thought she may have been drugged because he was sure she would be more scared and frantic in this situation.

Her skin was irritated from the chaffing of the cloth on her wrists and ankles. Her head swayed right to left though she could not see out of the cloth over her eyes. Her soft screams and breaths were further muffled by the cloth. But Draco was sure she could hear the crowd around them and Yaxley's introduction no matter how fogged up her mind was.

Yaxley smirked and moved to the left of the girl, gesturing for Avery to move to her right. He momentarily addressed the crowd, "This is a momentous occasion. We have never had something like this in over 1000 years. I will take a page from muggle history and perform on her what her kind would have done to one of us."

Yaxley broke the cloth holding Granger's wrists together and the one over her mouth. Her hands fell to her sides like a dead weight as she took many deep sobbing breaths. She soon tried desperately to remove the cloth around her eyes, her movements slow but determined. However, before she could make any progress at tearing it off, Yaxley waved his wand again and her arms were spread apart, matching the cross behind her. She tugged at them, her body twisting as far as possible, but they remained outstretched.

Yaxley and Avery raised their wands in unison, lifting a pair of long iron nails Draco had not seen previously. Draco was confused at first. He never knew about this part, it was nowhere in the agenda. He didn't know much about muggle history and this image wasn't jarring anything from his wizarding history but he was still scared. Nothing good could come from the mind of these men.

When the nails were level with Granger's palms, it hit Draco like a train. His foot stepped forward, he was going to dash over and push Yaxley to the floor and punch his lights out. Draco pulled his foot back reluctantly. He wouldn't even get that far.

Instead, he stood horror-struck as the nails slowly tunnelled their way through Granger's palms. Her loud ear-shattering screams wrenched apart the air in the stadium, no need for amplification. They were only a meagre representation of the pain she was evidently feeling. If the crowd was still speaking, Draco did not know; they were easily drowned out now by the poor girl. Granger's face was red as her mouth was ripped wide open with her screams. Blood dripped from the holes in her hands, spattering the stage red.

Once finished with her hands, Yaxley and Avery each took up another nail and started again, this time driving them through Granger's feet. Her screams grew louder than Draco thought possible. Draco was sure now that no one was speaking. No one had anticipated something like this, something this morbid.

Finally Yaxley and Avery lowered their wands and stepped back to admire their work. The girl's screams were slowly fading but the pain she felt heavy in each one. Tears were streaming down her face as her body rocked with silent sobs. Her limbs were painted red and her clothing now no more than a blood-soaked rag. More blood poured from the holes in her feet and a wound on her side that had reopened.

Avery laughed, "Who knew a mudblood was such a bleeder! We'll just let that tainted blood flow out of you. It'll burn in the fire."

Yaxley made one final swish and the levitating spell on the girl was gone, causing her to fall before the nails in her hands held her up. She screamed again, the weight of her own body acting against her. She had to pull on her own flesh to keep herself from falling and tearing her own hands through. Her sobs became stronger but Draco admired that she was no longer screaming. She was fighting as much as she could in her position. But there was still the inevitable to come.

Draco had taken more steps without realizing it. He was now within distance to pounce on Yaxley, to throttle him right now, after he what he made the girl go through. But really, what would he do then? Strangling Yaxley would not get her down or rescue her. He had to wait, he had to go through with the plan. He tore his eyes away from her and looked back to the crowd, the faces so small they were hard to distinguish from one another. Where was Potter?

_**...TWT...**_

Now was the time for action. They could not wait for the actual execution. Hermione's screams still rang through their ears, her blood painting their retinas. This was not a part of the plan!

They sprang from their seats and jumped over the barrier. This caused utter chaos among the posh wizards and witches who sat in section A. The two guards gave chase, firing spell after spell at the wild patrons, paying no mind if a wayward spell should hit of the esteemed guests.

Neville quickly ducked as a spell flew over his head, singeing the ends of his dark hair. The spell hit an elderly wizard square in the face, causing him to collapse into the path of their pursuers. Ginny turned back as she ran down the steps and fired two quick stunners at the guards, one keeling over on top of the elderly wizard. The other jumped over the pile of bodies and continued after them.

"Harry!" Luna shouted, pointing ahead of them.

Three guards were now running up the stairs, firing their own spells. The group turned right, running and jumping swiftly over the legs of the people sitting there. Most got up and ran ahead of the group, allowing them to duck behind for cover. These guards were more careful not to hurt any spectators.

Ginny and Dean fired spells over the heads of the spectators, unashamedly using them as human shields. The spells made contact with their attackers and one by one they fell, some on top of others.

Soon they ran out of aisle. There was nowhere else to run. The group formed a circle, their backs to one another and wands raised. The guards which remained, 10 of them, surrounded the group. They grinned evilly, finally cornering their prey. Some of the guards had wild looks in their eyes and seemed very trigger happy.

"We should kill them all now! There's nothing they can do!" one shouted out, causing others to nod and chuckle in agreement.

"NO!" Another shouted, "Avery said we need to take them in. Under no circumstances should we kill them."

"Well, we could just say it was an accident. Can't blame us if it's an accident."

No one wanted to listen to the guard that wanted to keep them alive. Harry nudged his friends' shoulders and gave them a small signal while the guards were caught up in their squabble. Everyone nodded slightly.

"No! Lower your wands now!" The guard shouted, holding his arms out at his comrades.

"Screw you, Russell!" The first guard pointed his wand at Harry. "Avada K-"

"Now!" Harry shouted. And then they were all surrounded in smoke. The group burst out of the clouds of smoke and away from their attackers. They stumbled over the remaining stands towards the edge of the pitch and jumping over the railing.

_**...TWT...**_

Yaxley saw the chaos and disruption in the stands of Section A. He heard the screams of many witches as they ran away from the danger. He smirked to himself knowing that this was the Resistance's rescue team. He turned back to the girl on the cross. The guards would deal with that ragtag group and their mission would all be for naught. It was time for the main event.

He announced to the crowd, "There seems to be a slight disturbance in the crowd but please remain calm. The show will continue as planned."

He turned back towards the pyre and with a flick of his wand, he set fire to the boards below the cross. The flames started small, clinging to life as they consumed life-giving oxygen. They slowly moved across the pile, growing bigger, until they licked at the base of the cross. The girl started to whimper, the heat prickling her toes. She started to scamper higher up the cross, causing more to blood to ooze from her feet.

There was a loud sound and Yaxley whirled around. Six witches and wizards were running wildly towards them. How did they get so close? There were 30 guards in Section A alone!

"Get them! Get them now!" Yaxley shouted, pointing towards the incoming attackers. The squad leaders spurred into action to meet them in battle, all except one.

**_...TWT..._**

Draco saw the large puff of smoke and moved a bit closer to the edge of the stage. Then he saw 6 persons dash towards the edge of the stands and jump down 10 feet before heading straight for him.

Now it was time! Draco turned and jumped right on top of Yaxley, landing onto the man's stomach and punching him right in his pretty face. The man instinctively moved his hands to block his face and Draco aimed a powerful blow to his chest. The air was knocked out of Yaxley's lungs and Draco pushed all his weight onto the man's stomach.

Time seemed to slow down. Nothing else mattered. Draco could hear no sounds around him. Draco noticed no one else around them. It was just him and this horrible, disgusting excuse for a wizard lying under him. How dare he do something like this to the girl he loved? How dare he hurt Hermione like that? He deserved worse than death but Draco's emotions were getting the best of him. He just wanted the man dead now.

He put his hands around the man's throat, wanting to see the man's life fade at his own hands. Yaxley's fingers clawed at Draco's hands, trying in vain to pry them off his throat, but Draco's grip did not lessen. Yaxley's attempts grew weaker and weaker as his lungs struggled for much needed air. Draco could see the man's face turning red, his throat swelling under his hands, but he pressed on, pushing his thumbs down hard onto the man's trachea. He wouldn't be satisfied until the man no longer breathe.

He was close, he could see it in Yaxley's eyes. They both knew it was soon over. But then a spell knocked Draco off the man's chest, destroying the bubble that surrounded him and Yaxley. He was sent sprawling a few feet away onto his back. He looked behind Yaxley and saw Avery with his wand aimed towards him. There was another spell on his lips before he too was slammed by a spell, causing him to scream out and fall out of sight.

Yaxley began coughing, rubbing his throat gingerly while trying to get up and away from Draco. Draco could see the red thumbprints on the man's neck and cursed under his breath. Just a few more seconds.

Using his cane, Yaxley stood hunched over before firing a spell at him. Draco rolled out of the way before pulling out his own and firing back at the man, who ambled out of the way. "I had my suspicions, young Draco. Something was just off about the situation. Now my suspicions are only confirmed," Yaxley said levelly, his voice hoarse from his once-constricted throat. "You deserve to burn alongside her. Fiendfyre!"

Draco dived again, the spell hitting the floor of the wooden stage below them. These magical flames spread fast, causing Yaxley to back away. Draco looked around wildly while running from the flames. Most the squad leaders were down, if they were so easy to subdue they didn't deserve to be leaders anyway, but more Raiders had poured onto the pitch now. Draco looked over at the others. They were managing on their own, each caught up in their own duel. One sported a long cut across their cheek and another was limping slightly to the right.

He moved to help them then he paused. He could hear Hermione screaming again. He looked up to her and saw her waist high in the flames, struggling against the nails. Her head was angled towards the sky, trying to pull in deep breaths but crying out from the pain. Her raggedy clothing was now barely threads, large black holes revealing her red, sweltering skin underneath. The holes in her hands and feet were getting bigger as she squirmed in the heat and her blood fell in fat drops. The smell of burning flesh and hair was filling the air and Draco was starting to sweat from just standing nearby. How had he noticed any of this before?

He ran up to the cross and around the Fiendfyre flames. How would he get her down? Thinking fast, he aimed his wand at the flames to release a gush of water, but it was no good. The air was so hot, from this fire and the Fiendfyre, the water immediately turned into hot steam.

So, Draco did the next best thing. He stepped into the flames, climbing on top of the burning kindling quickly and pushed against the cross. It started to rock slightly, causing Hermione to scream out as she moved against the nails. Draco put his whole weight against the cross, ignoring the heat and the flames attaching themselves to his robes, until the cross toppled onto its side. Hermione screamed out when the cross landed, her body hanging away from the frame, but she was now out of the flames.

Draco jumped out of the pyre, quickly discarding his outer robe, and pointed his wand at the nails. They were white hot and Hermione screamed out as they were slowly dragged out one by one. When the last one was out of her foot, she fell forward  
flat onto the stage, breathing hard.

Draco ran up to her and cradled her against him, pulling off the cloth around her and moving them to a spot far from the Fiendfyre flames. He looked at the holes in her hands and feet, gaping and red. He looked at her legs and her exposed stomach, the skin melted under the extreme heat. No one deserved this. It was all his fault. He blinked, trying to keep the tears in his eyes from falling. There was no time for that. He had to keep himself together. They had to get out here.

He cupped her face and screamed, "You're safe now, Hermione! But stay awake!"

He looked out and saw that the others coming towards them, many bodies scattered around them. They leapt onto the stage to surround Draco and Hermione's body. Ginny and Luna crouch down in front of him.

"Where's Avery and Yaxley?!" Draco screamed.

Potter looked around, "I stunned Avery but we're not sure where Yaxley- Oh shit!"

They all ducked as a large blue spell flew between them and created a crater in the stage to their left. They looked in the direction of its origin and saw Yaxley from behind the tall flames. The ends of his blue robes were burnt off and his normal-slicked back white hair was messy and sticking out in every direction. He held his wand with trembling hands. "You blood traitor!"

Draco handed Hermione over to Weasley carefully, "Get her out of here!"

They nodded and then spun but nothing happened. Ginny screamed out, "We can't apparate!"

The sound of crunching grass and heavy footfalls drew their attention and Dean looked back to the stands. At least 20 more guards were running towards the stage, their wands raised. "More Raiders are coming!"

"The emergency Portkeys!" Neville shouted suddenly.

They reached deep into their pockets and drew out the hodgepodge of objects. Neville looked down at his watch. 11:11. "Two minutes more!"

Yaxley fired another spell at the group, narrowly missing Hermione's limp leg as they all jumped out of the way. Hermione groaned at the sudden movement and Weasley pulled her closer to him, softly brushing her hair. "We'll get out of here, Hermione. Hold on."

The group crowded around Weasley and Hermione shielding them from any attack. Yaxley was closer now, hobbling slightly, a maniacal gleam in his eye. "Isn't this sweet. The blood traitor working with the Resistance. A pity really. Another pureblood family gone to pot. It would be a great service to the Wizarding community to wipe you all out right now!"

Draco jumped in front of all of them. He could hear them firing spells behind him and wondered just how much time they had left. He already felt like they were on borrowed time and now they were waiting on the Portkey to activate. But Yaxley was his and he meant to finish this once and for all. Draco fired a well-aimed spell at Yaxley's chest, forcing him to divert his course, momentarily disorienting him. Draco knew he had to act fast. Before Yaxley could regain his bearings, Draco took aim and shouted, "**Avada Kedavra!**"

**"Now!" **Neville screamed, clamping his hand on Draco's shoulder. Draco was pulled away into a swirling vortex, but not before seeing Yaxley crumple to the floor, his eyes staring emptily into the sky as the Fiendfyre flames began to consume him.


	18. The Aftermath and The Evacuation

_A/N: I'd like to start off by saying sorry to some of my readers. I got a review and the person didn't like how... graphic and sadistic the last chapter had been. I'm sorry if I offended you or anyone else. It was done in effort to show just how callous Yaxley and his Raiders think of 'mudbloods', especially Hermione Granger. But she's ok now, she didn't die and she's back in the hands of Draco and the Resistance._

_The story will soon come to an end, though I'm sad to see it go. This is a very long chapter, 6k+ words, most I've written ever. I feel proud and I kinda like this chapter: there's action, there's sad!Draco, I brought back Astoria, and there's Dramione at the end. I hope you like it as much I do. Read, Review, Favourite and Follow._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

_**...TWT...**_

She was on fire. She was on fire! This was beyond pain. Her skin was melting, layers sloughing off and falling into the flames below. The smell was horrible, burning flesh, she could tell from the shallow breaths she took in. Her lungs burnt from the hot air filled with smoke, poisonous gases and minimal oxygen. She knew she would have lost consciousness if not for the amount of pain ripping screams from her throat. She begged for it to be over. She begged for there to be no more skin to burn. She begged for her body to just be consumed by the flames for then she would know it would soon be over. With no more mortal shell, she would be free.

Something was happening. There was harsh movement, pulling her away from the wood and against the nails. She could feel the edges of the holes tearing even wider, the muscle slipping easily up and down the iron, as she rocked back and forth. Then she was falling sideways and hit the stage suddenly, her body hanging as far off the cross painfully. There was blinding pain from her hands and feet, the metal moving through the enlarged holes, before she fell onto the stage face first. Her legs, arms and stomach were raw, stinging from the heat, but she took in thankful deep breaths.

Someone came around her, someone pulled her close, someone spoke. All she wanted to do was sleep. She wanted it all to end. The heat was sweltering and she was losing a lot of blood and water. She was moved again and someone else spoke. The voices rang familiar through her head but she couldn't think right now. And then darkness all around her, all the air was squeezed out her lungs and she thought it was finally over.

_**...TWT...**_

She was lucky to even be alive the mediwitch staying at the safehouse had said. Over seventy percent of her body was burnt, the skin which remained covered in watery bubbles and oozing boils. Most of her hair had to be cut off, removing the singed ends and allowing her face to be free. The holes in her hands and feet would take a while to heal but she was on a regiment of potions to help the muscles reknit and replenish all the blood she had lost. However, her nerves were shot, from the nails separating them, from the heat and from her Cruciatus exposure at Yaxley's hands. She had been tortured many times over the last two days. The mediwitch would have to wait until she woke up to examine the extent of the nerve damage.

She was a sight to behold, her whole body wrapped in stark white bandages. Her breathing was shallow and it was obvious that she had been to hell and back. It was hard to see her like this. Girl-Weasley had already run out of the room in tears, unable to connect the girl she had known to be so strong in her current state. They all held her hands carefully, though they knew she was asleep. They wanted her to come back to them. They had done so much. Would it all be for nothing?

One by one they left her room until it was just Draco at her beside. He drew his chair closer to her bed and held her bandaged hand in his. All the emotions bombarded him at once. It had been a hard, dangerous and stressful day. This was the result and he knew having her here was worth everything he had gone through. The tears that had threatened to spill before could not be contained and they flowed in a steady stream down his cheeks. If anyone else had been there, he would have denied it whole-heartedly, but he could never lie to her. In those moments, he realized just how important she was to him, how much he wanted those who hurt her to hurt, how far he would go to ensure her safety.

He brushed his hand across her bandaged head, her short hair peeping from underneath. He had almost lost her today. He didn't want to think of what would have happened if he had. Somehow in just two short weeks, she had become his world and his reason for living. He shook his head with a chuckle. How did he let something like happen, let this angel into his life?

But then he frowned. How did she let this demon into hers? This was also the result of her involvement with him. He was no good for her. If he loved her like he now felt he did, he would let her go. He would keep her safe by keeping him away from her. He placed a kiss on her forehead before leaving her room.

_**...TWT...**_

They were all seated in the meeting room again staring at each other glumly. Everyone was sporting their own cuts and bruises, but compared to Hermione, no one had a right to complain.

Harry stood before speaking out to all of them, "We had all planned for this morning to go a bit differently."

"I didn't know they would have started sooner and I had no way to tell you," Malfoy said, his voice heavy with guilt.

"We know you didn't. And the message on the wall was brilliant," Ron said from Harry's right. His tone was sincere and understanding.

Malfoy seemed to not have heard anything. "I didn't know they would have done something so horrific to her. There no mention of a bloody crucifixation in the plans."

"It was painful to watch," Ginny said quietly. Her cheeks were still wet from earlier. Luna's arm was draped around her shoulders in comfort.

Malfoy seemed to want to say something more but Harry raised his hand. "We can't keep thinking about what we didn't know. What we do know is that she's here in our hands and she's out of theirs. She's healing now and I have no doubt she'll pull through. Hermione's a fighter and I'm sure once she's awake, she'll curse us all out for putting ourselves in danger for her."

There was chuckling around the table despite the gloom that hung in the air. They all knew Hermione. Harry continued, "Right now we need a status report to evaluate the success of the mission. Having her back is the biggest success but did we achieve anything else?"

Luna spoke first, "We left the pyre on fire and then Yaxley cast a Fiendfyre, so we can only hope that the whole place didn't burn down. But it's sure to have caused them some trouble as well."

Ron said, "Serves them right. Their own plans backfire on them, pun intended."

Then Neville said, "We downed about 50 Raiders, if you also count ones we hit in the stands. We took out the other squad leaders as well. Although none were killed, most of them definitely have intensive injuries. So we shouldn't have to worry about them."

"So can we say that we've at least made a dent in their numbers for the time being, Malfoy?" Harry directed at the man. He would have the most accurate knowledge of the Raiders' proficiency.

Malfoy looked up and seemed to be crunching the numbers before he said, "Yes, about 50 with the other squad leaders, they'd be disadvantaged for a few weeks if that's true. There will about 50 other Raiders still to think about, but without the squad leaders, they'll definitely move slower."

Harry nodded before saying, "What about the leaders? Nott was nowhere to be seen, so he's still out there. I had stunned Avery but I know by now they've already revived him, and Yaxley is-"

"Yaxley's dead," Malfoy interrupted. All eyes fell on the young man. "I saw him fall to my killing curse just before we left. The Fiendfyre probably got rid of his body too."

Harry swallowed. Yaxley was definitely enemy #1, the head of the whole operation. Without its head, the organization would be much easier to fight against. But could death ever be justified? Did they have the right to take away a man's life even if they knew just how many others the man would take, including the girl in the next room, just for her blood?

A chair screeched against the floor before Dean walked around and clapped a hand on Malfoy's shoulder. The blonde looked at him in shock, clearly thinking that Dean had actually meant to slap him, but Dean just said, "I understand. Thank you." There was a pause before the others rose and circled around Malfoy. Harry smiled. If Malfoy wanted, it was obvious he would be most welcome here.

_**...TWT...**_

Draco had gone back into Hermione's room after the meeting. Even though he knew he shouldn't be here, he had to. He had to know she was alright, that she was still with them and still breathing. He wanted to be there when she woke up and the only way to guarantee that was to be with her constantly. The door opened and Potter and Weasley came into stand around Hermione's bedside. Draco did not look at them as he gazed at Hermione peaceful face beneath the bandages. They all stayed in silence before Draco said softly, "You must think I'm a monster."

When they didn't respond, Draco continued, "I think I'm a monster. I took this poor girl who was safe and hidden, and I took her, and this is what happened to her. She was beaten, tortured, practically impaled and then burnt. She went through all that, she lived through all that because of what I did, because I put her in a position to let something like this happen. If you two are here to curse me, or punch me, or send me away, even turn me back over, then just do it now. I deserve it."

No one moved. Draco looked away from Hermione's face, wondering if they actually heard him or he had said all that in his head. Weasley shook his head before looking into Draco's eyes. His expression was one of pure conviction.

"You may have started all this, Malfoy, but with your help, we finished it this way. We brought her back and she lived through this. She could have easily died if any variable had been out of place, but she's alive. You saved her, probably more than we did." Weasley stepped around and placed a hand on his back, "I meant what I said earlier in the meeting room. Thank you for getting her back to us."

Potter spoke up, "We had gone five long years not knowing where the hell she was. I poured over maps and newspapers for any sign of her. We went from town to town, rescuing other refugees but never finding her. There were times when I thought she had already been captured. There were times when I thought she had probably just died and we never heard of it because it happened in some obscure town. But I wasn't ready to give up hope despite how futile it seemed. So yes, she has gone through all of that but she's here." He too walked around and stood on Draco's other side, his hand joining Ron's. "No, you're not a monster. No we don't want to curse you or punch you. We know you're in just as much pain as we are at this moment. And we definitely aren't sending you away. We would like you to stay with us actually. If that's what you want."

Draco thought about their words. He had just vowed earlier to keep himself away from her, to let his angel fly, but Potter and Weasley seemed to believe in him. He could hear the emotions in their voices. They didn't hate him, they even thought him redeemable. Somewhere along the line, probably the same time he realized he needed their help if he wanted to get her back, he opened his eyes and saw them as what they truly were: people who cared about others, people who would take risks if it meant to save another life, people who loved one another as brothers. They didn't hate him. It made him feel warm to not be hated. And he had brought Hermione into their warmth. She needed that, and maybe he needed that too.

Although he knew there was nowhere he could go now, he knew he wanted to be here. "I'll stay with you, and her."

The two boys slapped Malfoy's back together and said, "Welcome to the Resistance."

_**...TWT...**_

Avery stood on the grass of the Quidditch pitch looking out at the now empty stands. Behind him, his Raiders were still trying to contain the Fiendfyre flames with little success. He growled. This was not supposed to happen. The mudblood was to burn and the Resistance rescue team would have been captured. Now, most of the squad leaders were injured and Yaxley was dead. Avery saw when he fell before the Malfoy traitor and the others had disappeared. His body could not be recovered as it was already consumed in the blaze.

Avery saw Nott walk across the grass towards him, the man's face just as livid as his own. He came shouting, his hands moving in emphatic arcs, "What the fuck happened here? I just had to do damage control on all the guests. We've lost near to all their faith and investments. The whole shebangs gone to pot in just 2 hours."

Did he not think he knew this? Ignoring him for the moment, a hysterical Nott was not easy to talk to, Avery turned away from the screaming man and towards his underlings. "I want that blaze put out 5 minutes ago. Summers! Piers! Montague! Come with me."

The four men hurriedly ran over to their superior and saluted. They knew now was not the time to irate him further. "We are going to Malfoy Manor to bring in that blood traitor. He will be skinned within an inch of his life, layer by layer. Meet me in my office on the Raider floor in the next 10 minutes prepared and ready." They all saluted and apparated away.

"What now?!" Nott screamed, turning Avery around forcefully by his shoulder. "You really think the Malfoy boy would go back to his home after all this. He's cunning, imaginative, our best squad leader, he has the mudblood, and he disappeared with the bloody Resistance. He's definitely somewhere else now, wherever they are."

"Don't you think I know that, you fool!" Avery said, shoving Nott away from him. "We are going to the Malfoy Manor to find evidence, anything we can use against the boy so that he'll come out from wherever he's hiding. We're going to ransack the place and put it under surveillance in case he ever goes back there."

Nott scowled and adjusted his robes, standing a bit taller now. Avery appraised the man before him. Now there were only two of them. Yaxley had definitely been above them, but without him, who would take the head of this organization? Nott smiled evilly at Avery, possibly thinking the same thing, before he said, "Very well. But I will do my own part in retrieving the blood traitor." Without explaining himself further, Nott turned away from Avery and apparated back to the Ministry.

**_...TWT..._**

"So, what _is_ the plan moving forward?" Draco asked. They had reconvened in the meeting room again after Potter and Weasley had introduced the newest member to all the people staying in the safehouse. The refugees were a bit wary, having seen Draco at some the Raids they managed to barely escape, knowing of his coldness and expertise, but on Potter and Weasley's word, they accepted him, albeit begrudgingly.

Lovegood and Longbottom produced an array of different maps and drawings. Draco's eyes scanned over each quickly, recognizing a few as towns that had been marked for Raiding previously and in the coming months. From what he saw, their resources and knowledge was more than adequate but still lacking.

Draco began, "The Raiders are aiming to attack, here, here and here, within the next two weeks, provided the decrease of their numbers doesn't cause a change of plans," pointing at three of the locations. Potter nodded at Thomas who seemed to be taking minutes of the meeting.

Potter pointed to two other maps, "These are two locations we're thinking to make another safehouse. We usually move every two weeks to avoid detection and we know that these two places were already searched and haven't been visited since."

Draco nodded. This was true, these locations had been crossed of the priority list months ago. "They will plan to revisit it there eventually though, once other locations have been attended to."

Weasley took one of the maps from Harry, "By then, we'll hopefully have moved off again. Everything's always packed in case of a quick getaway."

Potter pulled up another set up maps, "These are the other locations we want to go and find some more refugees, anyone who might still be in these towns. You said some of these will actually be attacked by the Raiders soon, so we'll have to go to those first. Luna and Dean, stock up for a recon and possible retrieval if all goes well."

Lovegood and Thomas nodded before exiting the room. Potter then turned to Longbottom, "We are going to need more supplies and food if we are taking in more persons. Neville, you're in charge of that." Longbottom then left the room.

Then Potter looked at Draco, "I know you were good at Potions, so for now you'll be put in charge of replenishing our potions supply. We get a lot of injured and sick persons coming in here and we can't just waltz into Diagon Alley to buy any, so you will work with Ginny to collect any necessary ingredients and to brew them. If we need to go into an apothecary for a specific ingredient, tell me first. We limit how much we go out so we don't get seen."

Draco saw Girl-Weasley nod and rise from her seat, but Draco remained sitting. "Potter, since I know about the Raiders, inside and out, I think I should help with the plans."

Potter smiled but shook his head, "That is true, Malfoy, and we will call on you soon. But right now, we really need those potions, and as soon as possible, especially with Hermione needing to recover as soon as possible."

That shut Draco up before he all but ran from the meeting room, leaving just Ron and Harry in the room.

_**...TWT...**_

There were many wards around Malfoy Manor. The young Malfoy was certainly one who made his privacy and safety top priority; he was not one to be trifled with. Avery paced behind the three men who were firing different spells at the Malfoy gate. After dodging a very nasty-looking curse that rebounded, Avery turned to Summers angrily, "Weren't you just here a few days ago!"

Summers frowned and then said, "Yes, Sir. But Astoria put down the wards for me to get through. Either her or Malfoy have to-"

Suddenly the wards dropped and loud voice rang out above them, "You may come in now." The group strolled up the path to Malfoy's front door and pushed in. There they saw Astoria seated in a emerald green, high-backed armchair sipping from a fragile china tea cup. She was dressed in a long velvet black dress, one leg crossed over the other. Upon seeing her guests, she softly returned the cup to the tea tray on her left and got up to greet them. "Welcome. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

With a bow, Avery stood before her and said, "We are looking for the blood-traitor, Malfoy."

Astoria smiled prettily, "Oh, you're talking of my ex-fiance who left me for the mudblood." She walked away from them and gestured grandly around the foyer. "As you can see, he's nowhere here and I haven't seen him since the day I turned the _girl_ over to your squad." She spat the word 'girl', before adopting her sweet tone. She looked back at them, "Has something happened?"

Avery nodded. "Yes, Ms Greengrass. At about 1115 hours, Malfoy and the Resistance absconded with the mudblood. Their whereabouts are unknown."

Astoria flew into a fury, "You couldn't keep one mudblood within your grasp." She ran up to Avery with her hands out, "The same mudblood who ruined my engagement and my life! I wanted to watch her burn but I was otherwise preoccupied."

Avery held her hands before they made contact with him, "It is an unfortunate turn of events, but now we need information. We want to bring them all in. We will make their lives worse than hell, they'll wish they were dead."

Astoria smiled again, her mood switching suddenly. "How may I help?"

_**...TWT...**_

Nott took a lift down to the Raiders' level. He rarely came down here, this was really Avery's territory, but he had bigger fish to fry now. Every man for himself. He stepped out and saw a few of his men walking to and from different training rooms. Upon seeing him, those in the lobby stopped and saluted him before continuing their way. "Donahue," he called out as the injured squad leader stumbled past him.

"Yes, Sir?" he asked, holding his arm to his chest. He was sporting a rather large gash along the length of his forearm.

"Where is Avery?"

"He has already taken what remained of Malfoy's squad to Malfoy Manor."

Nott nodded before saying, "I need to speak to the wand tracers."

Donahue nodded before leading Nott through the hallways to the Tracers' room. Without knocking, Nott strode into the room causing its inhabitants to jump out of their seats hastily. With a wave of his hand, they quieted and returned to their stations except their superior. Nott walked straight to him and said, "I need a trace on Draco Malfoy's wand." The superior touched the tracer nearest to him and relayed the order. Within seconds, a slip of parchment was produced with the wand's coordinates. With a grin, Nott walked from the room with Donahue. He would get the upperhand now.

**_...TWT..._**

Harry and Ron hadn't left the meeting room. It had the biggest table and enough space for them to think comfortably. They had just mapped out the plan for the mission tomorrow when there was a large sound like a cannon outside. They ran to the window and saw about 20 Raiders with their wands aimed at the safehouse's wards. Somehow, they knew the safehouse was there. It was only a matter of time before the last ward that kept them invisible would break. Harry ran out of the room with Ron on his tail, the maps and diagrams packed quickly together. The other heads rushed into the hallway as well, Malfoy and Ginny covered in blue and purple powder.

"What was that?" Luna asked rushing up to the group with Dean.

"Raiders. 20 of them. We probably have just 2 minutes until the wards break with how strong their hitting them."

"How did they find us?" Neville asked as they all ran through the safehouse and roused the inhabitants from their beds and the various rooms.

There was another loud boom and the whole house shook. "There's no time to think about that. Neville, Ron, tell everyone the location of Safehouse 2. Ginny and Luna, go ahead and help on the other end. Dean, bring over all the supplies, everything else needs to be left behind but try to grab as much food as possible. Draco, grab the potions and those supplies." Harry ordered before running in the direction of their 'infirmary'.

The others ran to carry out their assigned tasks. Harry burst through the doors of their sick room. There was one person, Mrs Thatcher, who currently had a bad flu which the mediwitch feared would become pneumonia, the mediwitch herself and Hermione. She screamed at him as he walked over to Mrs Thatcher, "Potter, what's happening?"

"We have to get out of here," he shouted while helping a coughing Mrs Thatcher onto her feet. "Can you levitate Hermione out of here? We have to-"

'BOOM!' The room filled with dust from the open door. The infirmary was on the first floor, its door at the end of the main hallway opposite the front door, well what was left of the front door. Now there was a big gaping hole as the Raiders stormed in, with Nott in the lead. There were more explosions that rocked the house. Harry waved his wand at the door to the infirmary, closing and securing it. He turned back to the mediwitch, "Now Lottie!"

With a quick, scared nod, the mediwitch grabbed Hermione's various potions and her medical bag and put her hand under the young witch. There was soft sound, a quick exhalation of breath, but no movement from the girl. Another boom outside the door and Harry watched as the door to the infirmary splintered. Broken wood flew out at the people inside. Harry quickly shielded himself and Mrs Thatcher, but Lottie was not as lucky. She fell to the floor and Hermione fell beside her, partially hidden by the bed.

Two raiders ran up the hallway, firing curses through the large opening. Harry blocked each spell, slowly stepping backwards towards the two downed witches as he hid Mrs Thatcher behind him. He would have to protect the three witches against the onslaught. He would have to take them out quickly.

_Whoosh!_ A blue spell shot out a room off the main hallway, knocking one of the Raiders into the wall. The other Raider stopped and turned his head towards the origin of the spell before he too was thrown off his feet. Malfoy stepped into the hallway before running towards Harry.

Another whoosh as a orange spell hit the wall to their right. Malfoy dragged the two witches away from the fallen debris and Harry looked out into the hallway. An impressionable man strode confidently towards them, his hair and robes immaculate despite the dust and destruction around him. Harry and Malfoy held their wands warily. They did not know what protections this man had if they should fire prematurely. He stepped over the threshold and entered the room, his wand level with the wizards' hearts, concentrating more on Malfoy. Harry heard Malfoy hiss from behind him 'Nott' as the new man said, "Oh, young Malfoy, you've caused quite a stir today. But it wasn't difficult tracking you here. You've given away this entire organization's location just for walking around with that wand of yours. You were one of our best squad leaders, you know. I would let you rejoin our ranks if the circumstances were different, but nothing can equal the insubordination and blatant disregard you have shown today. You blood traitor!" At the end of his speech, Nott lost his temper and fired another orange spell towards him. Malfoy ducked, shielding his wards, the spell narrowly missing him by a hair, before it struck the wall behind him, the debris tumbling on top of him.

The imposing man walked closer to the wizards and Harry shot two spells at the man's legs, pushing him back a bit. Harry cast two more spells which Nott deftly avoided, but this allowed Malfoy to send a stunner he had not expected. The man fell backward and Harry shouted to Malfoy, "Your wand!" The wand clattered away from them. Harry then threw out his hand towards Malfoy, who clutched it tightly. He held onto Mrs Thatcher with the other and then Harry turned on the spot and disapparated.

"How did they find us?" Neville asked Harry. They were now situated in the new safehouse. This one was only one story and so space was more cramped here. Luna and Dean had unpacked the kitchen and the infirmary first, where Hermione, Mrs Thatcher, Lottie and Malfoy were now. Ron and Ginny were helping the other people in the safehouse get situated in their rooms. A small room near the kitchen as the new meeting room, where Neville had pulled Harry into.

"Malfoy's wand was traced." Harry said as he ran his hand through his hair. He rolled his shoulders, feeling the ache in his muscles. He really needed a bath and some rest. "We left the wand behind so we should be ok for now."

Neville fell into one the chairs, "Blimey!" Then he shook his head, " I'll check out the bathroom situation. I need to rest and a shower."

Harry nodded, "Alright then, tell the others we're meeting in the morning. Let's see if Kendall will cook up some stew."

In the infirmary, Draco sat at Hermione's bedside, clutching her hand once more. Lottie had just given her another dose of potions and left the two of them in the room. Mrs Thatcher was sleeping, she too getting her daily dose of potions and a calming draught.

"I almost lost you again," Draco whispered, "And it would have all been my fault again. They came looking for me, they were able to find us because of me. I'm trying to do the right thing but it's not working." He threw his head down, and kissed the back of her hand. "I wish you'd wake up. I'm sure you would know what to do now."

There was a soft sound, a sharp intake, from underneath him. His head shot up as he stared up into her face. Did something happen? Was she waking up? It was too soon. There was another sharp breath, her face contorted into a look of pain, and Draco started to panic. He shouted for Lottie and pulled Hermione to him to control her tremours. He brushed her hair softly as she continued to take sharp, agonising breaths against his chest. "It's going to be alright. Lottie!"

Lottie burst through the door, pulling Draco off Hermione and lying her flat in the bed. Her body thrashed under the mediwitch's hands. "Don't just stand there! Hold her for me!" Draco put his hands on Hermione's arms as she writhe in the bed. Her bandages started to colour and her mouth started to foam. He felt so helpless looking at her like this. Lottie came back with a potion at hand. She tipped Hermione's head up, opened her mouth and massaged the potion down her throat. Hermione's thrashing lessened as the potion took effect. Soon her breaths were calm again and she lay still. Draco took a deep breath and turned to Lottie's face.

"I put spells on the patients to notify me when something's gone wrong but lucky you were already here. She's gonna have a few episodes like after what she's been through. I just hope there will be no lasting damage. She has to wake up fully first to test. But she's alright for now. Let's leave her to rest."

Lottie grabbed Draco's arm and pulled him reluctantly out the room. He squeezed Hermione's hands one more time before following her out. No one heard the soft whisper, 'Draco?'

_**...TWT...**_

It had been a week now since the Resistance had situated into the new safehouse. Harry, Ron and Ginny had gone to their first location, Portham, and found ten people: 4 children and their parents. Today, Draco, Potter and Weasley were in the meeting room hashing out the plans for the next mission to Gainsville when there a knock on the door. At Potter's word, the door opened to reveal Lottie. "Ms. Granger is waking up now." Plans forgotten, the three men ran into the infirmary. A tired Hermione lay on her back, her eyes landing on them as they came to her bedside. She gave them a small smile and moved her fingers feebly, the bandages limiting their span. Quickly, Draco took one and Harry and Ron shared the other. Her smile became wider and she made a small sound.

"You have us quite a scare, Mione," Weasley said softly. She made another small sound, like a chuckle, and squeezed his hand. Weasley returned the squeeze.

"You're safe now, with us, all of us," Potter said gesturing towards the three of them and then widely at their surroundings. Draco felt a warm feeling at being included in the 'us'. "This is our most recent safehouse. We had to make a quick getaway from our last one, but we've been doing well here for the past week."

Hermione hummed, squeezing Potter's hand as well, but then she looked straight into Draco's eyes. He froze under her gaze, his breath caught in his throat. Those eyes again, they were calling to him: warm, inviting, familiar. Potter and Weasley must have noticed something for they each leaned over Hermione, gave her a careful hug, and then left Draco and Hermione alone.

It was just Draco and Hermione. Mrs Thatcher had been released the day before to stay in her own room, and Lottie was out in another part of the house. Hermione's eyes still lingered on Draco's face. Her fingers moved inside his hand and he squeezed them tightly. She smiled and he placed a quick kiss on her knuckles.

His voice came out hoarsely, "You've come back to me." His smile was wide, his eyes brimming with tears. Now he knew just how worthwhile everything had been. This was the best result: a smiling Hermione, smiling just for him. "I'm so sorry I did this to you, Hermione. I never wanted anything like this to happen. I would never want for you to get hurt. I just wanted to save you, give you a better life, and this is what happened. I'm so sorry, Hermione." He was clutching her hand for dear life. Her mouth turned down and she squirmed in his grasp uncomfortably before he released her. "I'm sorry for that too." He placed his head across her lap, "I won't even ask you to forgive me, because I don't think I deserve it. Please, just don't hate me. I didn't mean for this to happen."

He lay his head in her lap, his tears falling sideways down his face onto her bedsheets. He felt soft brushing along his forehead with shaking hands. His tears slowed with the soft motions of her fingers, her hand becoming steadier with each brush. He wished he could stay here forever, here in the this sterile, quiet, safe room, just him and her together and the sound of the gauze scratching against his hair.

There was a soft sound above his head and he turned in her lap to look up at her. She smiled again and made the sound. Was she saying something? He lifted his head and moved his ear right to her mouth. Then he heard it very distinctly, though softer than silk, 'Thank you'. She pressed her lips to his cheek. He felt the warmth radiate from his cheek down to his feet. And he smiled again. Yes, this was worth it.


End file.
